PHOENIX (CBS5) -
Karl Cabrera is smart. He's 18 years old, graduating from AAEC South Mountain High School with a 4.0 grade point average and very involved in campus life.
But not only is he at the top of his class in high school, he's also excelling in college.
In fact, Cabrera will be getting his associates degree from South Mountain Community College on Friday. He will have his two-year degree one week before he graduates from high school.
Cabrera will be the valedictorian of his class at South Mountain Community College. He has his speech ready for his peers, or in this case, his peers who are slightly older than him.
In addition to preparing for his speech, Cabrera is also taking his finals. His classes include Calculus 3, University Physics and Chemistry 2.
Cabrera plans to go to Arizona State University with two years completed. He said he will first pursue his bachelor's degree and then his masters in industrial engineering. He hopes to have his advanced degree by the time he's 21 years old.
Cabrera is even looking beyond his days at ASU.
"I've definitely been looking at some doctoral programs and I would like to stay (in Arizona). I mean, there are a lot of companies here that are technology-based like Honeywell, Intel," said Cabrera.
Cabrera's high school teacher, Colman Carter, is proud of his star student.
"Karl is an extremely motivated student. He is typically ahead of the game. He's always the first to turn in his work. He's always the one that will volunteer to give an answer and does an amazing job on everything that he does," said Carter.
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