Local student in Woodland earned two diplomas in one year

WOODLAND -- A student from Pioneer High School, is receiving two diplomas in one year, one of which being her high school diploma and the other her Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree. 

Mohini Sharma took part in the Dual Enrollment program, which gave high school students the chance to earn credit in college classes and she received her A.A. degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Woodland Community College in May. 

She said, "I took my very first classes at Woodland Community College the summer after 8th grade and finished my last class there on May 23rd, 2023. The very first class I took was an introduction to psychology course."

She took a total of 20 courses and completed 60 units of classes. 

However, this did not come with its difficulty.

"At first I struggled with getting into classes that didn't interfere with my high school classes. Eventually, I learned how to work around that, but it took a lot of my time and energy to maintain my grades on both ends. There were many days in which I left my home at 6 a.m. to go to high school followed by tennis, college, and work, returning at 10 p.m. with homework to do."

Sharma plans to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at UC Davis, with hopes of becoming a pediatric surgeon.