Sixty-eight students are participating in the 11th annual Otis Redding Music camp on Mercer's campus this week.
Students work and harmonize together; all while following in some big footsteps.
At the Otis Redding music camp, students are taught by music coaches from all over the country, and are inspired to chase their dreams.
Dreams, like that of rising senior Leah Duval.
"I want a small performance career, but I also want to teach at a university so I can help other people, you know, learn to love music and stuff," Duval said.
And maybe even change some of them.
"I wanted to be a lawyer, but I don't think I'd be good at that," camper and ninth grader Noah Good said.
Good says he now wants to be a singer, songwriter, and actor.
The camp helps build the foundation for those aspirations. Kids write, play, and record their own songs that they have to perform along with a tribute to Otis Redding at a concert in two weeks.
Karla Redding-Andrews is Otis Redding's daughter and the creator of the camp. She says the program would be nothing short of music to her father's ears.
"He'd be so excited right now," Redding-Andrews continued, "he's looking down on us; he's been doing that for 11 years and I think we are making him very proud."
Especially when it comes to their grand finale -- a concert held at the Grand Opera House in Macon.
"It's one of the most anticipated shows in Macon," Redding-Andrews said.
It's a concert that shows off the two weeks of hard work and dedication and allows campers to be heard.
"I'm just one person out of billions of people in this world, but I love music,and I can sing, and I can present my talent to the world, and let the world know I am here, and I am present," Duval said.
The concert will take place on June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Grand Opera House in Macon.
Admission is free, but a $10 donation is suggested. All money goes towards the Otis Music Camp.