SAN MARCOS – Liliana Ricalday was ready for the writing seminars, math classes and study-skills workshops. But she was not prepared to traverse a rope strung across two poles 42 feet above the ground.

It was the support and cheering from her classmates that propelled her. "I was really scared and didn't think I could do it," recalled Ricalday, 18, with a soft smile. "But then I watched the others do it."

The activities were designed to instill confidence and develop camaraderie among a group of 35 incoming freshmen at California State University San Marcos.

The young men and women, all sons and daughters of farmworkers, are in a six-week summer program to sharpen academic skills and to get an early peek into life in college. And for their entire freshman year, they will be part of the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), a federally funded initiative to help them make the transition to college.

Ricalday is a recent graduate of La Costa Canyon High School. She is already feeling a lot more confident about finishing college and reaching her goal of being a high school Spanish teacher.

"I was scared at first, but this has helped me," she said. "I can relate to other people in my class. They have the same experiences."

Fellow student Miguel Trejo, a recent graduate of the Fallbrook Union High School District, now feels at home on the sprawling university campus.

"I have made many friends," said Trejo, who wants to study sports medicine. "And the camp counselors have answers to our questions."

The counselors and peer mentors come from backgrounds that reflect those of the students.

"When they see me, a light bulb goes on," said counselor Thomas Rodriguez, who fields questions ranging from financing college to finding housing. "They see somebody like them who finished college and is working in a university."

Students also find it easy to relate to peer mentors such as Martha Aquino, a sophomore at the university, who comes from a family of agricultural workers. She is an impressive role model who graduated from high school at age 16 with a 4.22 grade point average.

"I get questions about financial aid, what school life is like, what to expect and how to react to that," said Aquino. "I try to make them feel comfortable."

Like other first-generation college students, the young men and women face many hurdles. Among them are parents with no college experience, low family incomes and a lack of health insurance.

Other impediments are parental values that frown upon taking on college loans and a reluctance to allow daughters to attend out-of-town universities, said camp counselor E. Sugar Martinez, who will return as a faculty member in the fall.

"The goal is to create a paradigm shift in the minds of the students and parents and getting them to believe that college is possible," Martinez said. "And it is more than just about education. We want to create leaders."

During their freshman year, students will receive financial aid to offset tuition and living expenses. They will have access to tutoring, and counselors will be available to help them find housing, apply for scholarships and explore careers.

"We will play the role of parents who have attended college," said Zulmara Kline, assistant professor of literacy in the college of education who wrote the grant proposal for the program with Juan Necochea, professor of multicultural studies.

The nationwide program began 30 years ago with the intent of assisting children of migrant farmworkers. Cal State San Marcos is one of 12 schools in the state that offer the program.

Students are required to maintain good grades and perform community service, said Minerva Gonzalez, program director.

"We want to instill the value of giving back to the community," she said.

Gonzalez said she is already observing changes in the group. "They are more vocal, more confident and ready to take risks."