This month, Sara Ballard, 18, will graduate from high school and college at the same time. After graduation, she plans to transfer to Grand Canyon University with 66 college credits already under her belt.

During spring semester, she was enrolled in two high school classes at Arizona Agribusiness Equine Center and 24 credit hours at Mesa Community College.

In addition to her academic demands, the honor student put in 50 hours of volunteer work (totaling 950 hours during high school) and served as president of her high school national honor society and treasurer of student council.

She also found the time to work two jobs.

How did she handle the workload?

“I just keep on top of things,” Ballard said. “I spent every spare moment on homework. I just tried my hardest and figured out how to make it work because it was important to me.” Ballard plans to major in secondary education at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

“My experience at MCC was great,” Ballard said. “I’m so glad I did it.”

Ballard’s high school, the Arizona Agribusiness Equine Center, is in partnership with Maricopa Community Colleges and Yavapai Community College.

It’s a multiple campus, independent high school district that offers a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, and enables qualified secondary students to earn college-transferable credits while completing work for their high school diploma.

AAEC teaches the Arizona State Standards in all core curricula and is accredited by the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges.