College 101 is powerful Pre-College Opportunity Program (PCoP) designed to expose at-risk high school students to the benefits of post-secondary education, to motivate them to stay in school, and to help them envision a future that includes post-secondary education. The unique features of College 101 include that it is grounded in the pedagogical approach of Real Talk (Hernandez, 2015), and that it is led mainly by College Positive Volunteers (CPVs). The goal of this study was to explore the experiences of at-risk high school students who engaged in the program at a mid-sized research university located in the Midwest. An interactive activity that captured students' perspectives on their goals, barriers to success, and steps needed to reach their goals; and a post-event survey aimed to measure their perspectives on the helpfulness of College 101, revealed that College 101 is a unique and effective program for engaging, motivating, and helping at-risk high school students see post-secondary education as a realistic option for their future success.