Chaffey College Commencement Class Speaker Graduating from Two Colleges and High School at Once
By Melissa Pinion
Disclaimer: This article is written by a Chaffey College staff member. This was not written by a student.
Between endless hours of studying, soccer practice, student government and applying for colleges, Chaffey College student Hailey Contreras says she has not watched television in about four years.
But she says the sacrifice was worth it.
Contreras, an Adelanto resident, will graduate from Chaffey on May 21, a week later at Hesperia High School and then in June at Victor Valley College.
“I feel like doing all that extra work allowed me to become extraordinary,” she said. “I’m very proud of myself in that sense.”
She is the first high school student in Chaffey College history to serve as class speaker. And despite being just 17 years old, she has no fear about facing 8,000 people at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
Chaffey College’s class of 2026 includes nearly 3,000 students who will earn more than 4,000 degrees and certificates. Of those, 111 are high school students – a more than 200 percent increase in dual enrollment students from the previous year. The class includes 11 valedictorians.
“In a sense, they’re all like me,” she said of her classmates. “They worked just as hard or even harder and I admire all of them.”
The business major will graduate with four associate’s degrees and four certificates from Chaffey and Victor Valley.
Her next stop?
It is the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, known for having a 5% acceptance rate for transfer students. It brings her one step closer to fulfilling the dream of becoming a corporate lawyer.
Image courtesy of Melissa Pinion: Hailey Contreras poses with a Berkley pennant.
Contreras is the first in her family to graduate from college in the U.S., but her grandmother did earn a degree in public administration from her native Panama. Christina Espinoza works as bilingual aide teacher at Joshua Circle Elementary School in Hesperia.
“She feels like she’s living through me, because she took a couple semesters of law herself,” Contreras said. “She’s incredibly proud.”
Contreras is the oldest of four children, attending Joshua Circle and Hesperia Junior High. When she enrolled at Hesperia High School, her mother investigated dual enrollment to give her daughter a head start on college.
Once she gained enough confidence with her high school classes, she started dual enrollment her sophomore year at Victor Valley, and then enrolled at Chaffey. Contreras decided on majoring in business after working in her parents’ insurance office. When she did an internship at the Kerrie C. Justice law firm in Hesperia, she found her calling.
“They opened my eyes to a whole new world,” she said.
On a typical weekday, Contreras balances her high school and college classes with sports, club soccer and extracurricular activities. Weekends involve a marathon of studying – sometimes 10 hours on a Saturday – with the occasional actual marathon for good measure.
But she still tries to find time to be a teenager, attending her friends’ quinceañeras and going to the movies.
Counselor Joe Vallejo, who worked with Contreras throughout her journey at both Chaffey and Victor Valley, praised her for her perseverance, dedication and grace while balancing all of her responsibilities.
“I am so proud of her many accomplishments,” Vallejo said. “I am confident she will achieve amazing success and stand out as one of the best in her future endeavors.”
Contreras is grateful to Chaffey College for preparing her for the next chapter of her life.
“Chaffey pushed me a lot more and requested a lot more out of me. I’ve always loved a good challenge and the opportunity to learn even more. I wouldn’t have been able to do all of this without their support.”