Parsing XML using Linq into ObservableCollection to populate xaml datagrid

[EDN Admin]

Hi,
I have an xml file like so:
<pre class="prettyprint <<span style="white-spacere student_database>
<students type="men
<student>
<firstname>John</firstname>
<lastname>Smith</lastname>
</student>
<student>
<firstname>Bob</firstname>
<lastname>Villa</lastname>
</student>
<student>
<firstname>Wayne</firstname>
<lastname>Gretzky</lastname>
</student>
</students>
<students type="women
<student>
<firstname>Jane</firstname>
<lastname>Smith</lastname>
</student>
<student>
<firstname>Angelina</firstname>
<lastname>Jolie</lastname>
</student>
</students>
<students type="children
<student>
<firstname>Chris</firstname>
<lastname>Smith</lastname>
</student>
<student>
<firstname>Cassie</firstname>
<lastname>Mclean</lastname>
</student>
</students> </student_database> [/code]
<br/>

This xml is in a separate file.

My goal is to read the contents from the XML file and populate my xaml datagrid with it based on the selection of an xaml combobox. Here is the C# linq:
<pre class="prettyprint ObservableCollection<string> allFirstNames =
new ObservableCollection<string>(
from n in xmlDoc.Root.Elements("students")
where n.Attribute("type").Value == "men"
select n.Element("student/firstname").Value); [/code]
<br/>
Im new to c#, linq and .Net in general. My research has led me to believe I should use an ObservableCollection. The purpose of the C# code is to get a collection of firstnames for all the students of type==men. The problem I am having is that:
<pre class="prettyprint student/firstname[/code]
is incorrect syntax in the "select" part. Can anyone help me figure out how to get a collection of firstname so that my "allFirstNames" collection contains a collection of "men" "firstname"s.

Thanks!
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