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-year-old’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 is graduating from Hesperia High School on Thursday after graduating last week 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.
“Sometimes my friends ask, ‘Do you even sleep?’” Contreras said. “And I tell them, ‘Of course — I’m well-rested,’ but I’m always moving.”
Her pursuit of excellence has come with sacrifices.
Contreras estimated she’d spent about an hour over the last 2½ years playing her Xbox game console and hadn’t touched the Nintendo Switch her father gifted her for Christmas 2024.
Hailey Contreras, on the Rancho Cucamonga campus of Chaffey College, was the first high school student in that college’s history to serve as class speaker.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
“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.
“Faith is a decision you make to believe that the dark road you’re traveling on will eventually yield to a sunrise,” she said, quoting Christian authors Tony Evans and Chrystal Evans Hurst.
Contreras has traveled the long, tough road. Daily, she would awaken as early as 5 a.m. to review homework assignments before beginning class at 7 a.m. at Hesperia High.
Until about 3 p.m., Contreras handled a full slate of high school classes, clubs and activities: advanced placement Spanish, computer science, the Associated Student Body and college preparation in her AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, class.
Every 15-minute break or free minute at lunch was spent reviewing her college courses and assignments from Chaffey and Victor Valley. Some classes were asynchronous while others required Zoom meetings and an occasional campus meetup.
After school came high school sports from 3:15 to 5:30 p.m., either cross-country, soccer or track and field, depending on the season.
From there, it was on to club soccer, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Finally, back home, she would eat and finish up studying around midnight, she said.
“There are points where it’s really difficult to juggle all this and still have a normal social life,” Contreras said. “But I embrace the challenge and I take advantage of weekends to catch up with my assignments.”
Contreras’ venture into college began her sophomore year in high school. That’s when her mother, Jeannette, 45, first heard about college dual enrollment.
The program is offered by Chaffey College and Victory Valley College as well as most California community colleges. A high schooler can enroll as early as freshman year and earn up to 11 college credits per semester.
Jonaé Varela, Chaffey’s high school dual enrollment director, said Contreras was part of the early enrollment flex plan, which offers in-person, online, asynchronous and hybrid classes.
The early enrollment program is growing at Chaffey, up 22% from the previous year, according to Varela. Of the college’s 30,000 or so students, 7,667 participated last year.
Hailey Contreras displays her markers of academic achievement.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
“It’s a pretty significant percentage of the student population,” she said. “It’s a way to earn college credits and ultimately graduate faster.”
The last ingredient for success, however, was family support, Contreras said.
“I couldn’t have done this without my parents believing in me and driving me around everywhere at all hours,” she said. “I couldn’t have juggled this schedule without them.”
Parents Jeannette and Tony served as multitaskers-in-chief, running an insurance agency while driving three children — Hailey, Tony, 11, and Kara, 6 — to college, high school and elementary school classes and after-school sports, while also caring for 3-year-old Kayla.
“Our job has always been to make a crazy schedule work,” Jeannette said. “You make sacrifices as a parent to give your children a chance to live out these dreams.”
The fruits of their efforts are four associate’s degrees for Hailey, two in business administration and one each in mathematics and science, and social and behavioral sciences, along with four certificates, and a high school diploma backed by a 4.5 grade-point average.
Contreras is Hesperia High’s valedictorian and earned All Mojave River League honors in cross-country her senior year by taking eighth at league finals in a time of 20 minutes, 49 seconds. She was one of two runners from the school to qualify for the CIF Southern Section Division I preliminaries. She was National Honor Society president, secretary of La Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica and the class of 2026 president, among other accolades.
She was also Chaffey’s first-ever high school commencement speaker.
Contreras is heading to UC Berkeley this fall as an 18-year-old junior transfer. She earned admission to the Haas School of Business, which traditionally only accepts 5% of transfer students.
She dreams of one day being a corporate lawyer, spurred by experiences working at her parents’ insurance agency.
“I want to be an advocate for zoning rights and laws,” she said. “I’ve seen firsthand how small businesses are crushed by regulation and how long it takes for simple permits. I want to change that.”
Her next great challenge is funding her education. The Contreras family didn’t qualify for much financial assistance and has set up a GoFundMe.
“As a parent, I’m filled with nothing but pride for my daughter,” Jeannette said. “We always made sure to ask, ‘Is this too much for you,’ and Hailey never took on more than she can handle. Now, she’ll have a new challenge.”