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Hesperia High teen will graduate from 2 colleges
Los Angeles Times
|May 31, 2026
Hailey Contreras has amassed a diploma and four associate's degrees
Photographs by GARY CORONADO
For The Times HAILEY CONTRERAS, 18, will have three commencement ceremonies to attend this graduation season.
As she walked home two weeks ago, Hailey Contreras carried in a plastic grocery bag all the accolades and graduation regalia from a high school and college career bursting with acclaim. Then it snapped.
More than 2 pounds of honor cords, pins, stoles and medallions a stash rivaling that of a supreme Allied commander crashed to the dirt outside the 18-yearold's Adelanto home.
That's when the high school senior came to a realization.
"I was going to need a bigger bag," Contreras said with a smile. "It's been a busy year."
Contreras graduated from Hesperia High School on Thursday after graduating this month from Chaffey College, and she'll graduate next month from Victor Valley College.
She'll have a high school diploma and four associate's degrees to go along with a personal drive to maximize every second of her time.
THE ADELANTO teen displays her markers of academic achievement, including a valedictorian medal."Sometimes my friends ask, 'Do you even sleep?"" Contreras said. "And I tell them, 'Of course - I'm wellrested,' but I'm always moving."
Her pursuit of excellence has come with sacrifices.
Contreras estimated she'd spent about an hour over the last 2 years playing her Xbox game console and hadn't touched the Nintendo Switch her father gifted her for Christmas 2024.
"It's been crazy," she said.
"I love to play, but I don't have the time." Another thing she hasn't had time for: TV. But she made a recent appearance on the small screen.
She spoke at Chaffey College's commencement ceremony, livestreamed on YouTube.
This story is from the May 31, 2026 edition of Los Angeles Times.
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