More than 170 fifth-graders from three Jefferson City elementary schools signed up for "College 101" on Tuesday and passed the class with flying colors.
The campus visit to the University of Missouri offered the smaller students a chance to tour the campus, learn more about the university's academic offerings and see what college students do on a beautiful spring day.
Some of the fifth-graders watched as engineering students tinkered with a drone; others noticed the outdoor pianist practicing his music on Lowry Mall. Many paused respectfully beneath the hallowed hall of Memorial Union. All were agog by the size of the student recreation center's three massive swimming pools.
Fifth-graders from across the district - almost 700 in all - have been traveling to Columbia all week as a part of the district's program.
The kids were acquainted with some of the basic equipment - student IDs, planners, textbooks - college students need to be successful. Carter Vieira, an MU admissions representative, familiarized the students with some of the majors the university offers and quizzed them about ways to get ready.
"What can you do now?" she asked.
Answering her own question, Vieira suggested that sitting at the front of the class is one way for good students to show their professors they care about what they're learning and be able to ask more questions.
The students were also encouraged to ask questions of their own. And they did by the hundreds.
"Do you have astronaut training here?" Sam Sell wanted to know.
"Is it OK for you to visit your family if you haven't seen them for a couple of years?" Dakota Werdehausen inquired.
"Yes! Absolutely!" Vieira replied. "Just make sure they take you to Shakespeare's when they come."
The field trip was also synced to the district's academies program.
So, for example, when Vieira asked the kids if they might be interested in Industrial and Engineering Technology - one of Jefferson City's seven career paths - she suggested MU might be a place where they could study fields like math, physics, astronomy or civil engineering.
District Superintendent Brian Mitchell, who addressed the students shortly after they ate picnic lunches on the grass of MU's famous Quadrangle, said the field trip program offers a glimpse of college life to students who have never had a chance to visit a campus.
"Who is excited to be at MU today? Why are you at MU today?" Mitchell asked them.
"We're here to prepare us for college and learn what college might look like," Alex Hirst replied.
Mitchell told the students the move from fifth to sixth grade will be a big transition in their lives, one that means they will have to accept more responsibility and start thinking about their futures.
"I want you to be excited for your future," he told them.
He also suggested they should start to set goals, both short-term and long-term promises to themselves.
"It might be making an A on your next math test, or joining more sixth-grade clubs and activities," he suggested.
The students themselves seemed delighted with the experience.
"We're pretty excited," Sebastian Neeley said.
"We're here to see how Mizzou actually works," added Grayson Johnston.