RALEIGH -- A standing room only crowd of more than 700 Hispanic students filled a conference room Friday to learn more about higher education. It was part of the ninth annual Hispanic Educational Summit.

"I know that [the students] all want to be somebody in life, and they all want the opportunity to do something," explained seventh-grade student Avilene Bahena.

Bahena and a dozen of her classmates made the hour and a half trip from Sampson County to Raleigh for the summit. She said she dreams of one day becoming an archeologist.

"Since I was little, I liked to look at things and wonder how it came to this world and who discovered it," she said.

For a lesson in how to make dreams come true, the students heard from Hispanic business leaders. One speaker was Guillermo Diaz. He is a vice president for the technology company, Cisco Systems.

"My key message is, establish that vision, education, and do it with passion,” he said.

Participating students came to Raleigh Friday by bus from more than 30 North Carolina counties. Those numbers make it the largest Hispanic educational conference in the state.

The North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals organized the summit.

Attendee Jazmin Rios said she felt privileged to be there.

"There's a lot of people who have the opportunities to go to college but they just don't take the opportunities," Rios said.

Rios, and her classmate Avilene Bahena, say those are opportunities they definitely will not pass up.

The summit included an educational exhibit where dozens of colleges had information for the students; scholarship information was also available.