Four Suffolk seniors will graduate this year with a head start on their peers, having earned associate degrees at Paul D. Camp Community College while studying for their high school diplomas.

Joshua Graham will graduate with honors from PDCCC with an associate degree in General Studies-Computer Science and a certificate in General Education. He will also graduate with honors from King’s Fork High School.

Graham has also earned his Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 1 and is active at Main Street United Methodist Church, where he has long served as a member of the Adult Handbell Choir and a sound technician.

“When I go to Virginia Tech, I will already know the basics of college survival,” Graham said, adding he’ll pursue a math major with a computer science minor.

Malaika Karriem will graduate from PDCCC with honors with an associate degree in General Studies-General and a certificate in General Education. She will also graduate with honors from Nansemond River High School.

Karriem is a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, Model Judiciary, Healthy People Healthy Suffolk Youth Advisory Board, Nansemond River Crime Stoppers and the U.S. Tennis Association.

“At this point, we have gotten so many of our general classes out of the way (that) going into college, we should be able to just jump right in, fulfilling the courses that go toward our majors,” Karriem said.

She plans to major in public relations with a focus on crisis communication, and to minor in pre-law.

De’Ja Lankford will graduate with honors with an associate degree in science from PDCCC. She will also graduate with honors from King’s Fork High School, where she has been an honor roll student and is vice president of the National Honor Society.

Lankford works a part-time job, serves on the Suffolk Youth Advisory Council, and is president of Girl Scout Troop 669.

At George Mason University, Lankford plans to major in mathematics to become a math professor.

“At first, the workload was a little much,” Lankford said of being a dual-enrollment student. “When I started at 16, I didn’t really know how to juggle high school and college.

“After a while it got easier, and I was able to get a part-time job.”

Ashley Wood will graduate from PDCCC with an associate degree in General Studies-General and a certificate in General Education.

She will graduate with honors from Nansemond River High School, where she has remained on the honor roll, holds office in the Science Club and is a member of the Academic Team, the Prom Committee and the VOICE Club.

Wood will also attend George Mason University, studying psychology.

“I would say you should do it, because it’s good in the long run,” she advised students considering dual enrollment.