Nansemond River High School’s 2015 valedictorian is a man seldom without a plan.

Richard R. Hyman III said he knew “very early in the year” he’d earned the top academic honor.

He said it was made official after the snow days in first semester, adding, “I didn’t really have a reaction.”

The reaction came in the 10th grade, he said, when he learned he had the potential to be No. 1 and began working toward it in earnest.

“I thought, ‘I could do this,’” he said. “I made a whole course schedule list of courses and GPA weight. I calculated everything so I could get a GPA of 4.5.”

The schedule included most of the Advanced Placement classes he was eligible to take, he said, along with dual enrollment classes.

Before his high school graduation next month, Hyman has already graduated from Paul D. Camp Community College with an associate degree in general studies, to transfer to the University of Central Florida.

Hyman sounds enthusiastic about attending UCF, where he will study mechanical engineering and might specialize in aeronautical engineering.

“It’s in the middle of central Florida and surrounded by many businesses I would like to be familiar with,” he said.

Hyman’s beyond-college plans include working for an established company “like Google” before starting his own engineering firm, together with business partners with different engineering specialties, once he’s financially stable.

And beyond that, his plan is to run for U.S. president.

“I’m very interested in politics,” Hyman said. “Right now, it’s a constant battle between two sides. I don’t like that — I like to see things get done.

“You see two people on the street fighting … and they both look equally stupid. … They just need to compromise.”

His ultimate goal is “to be not just president, but to do something for the world.”

Hyman said those around him often believe he does things last-minute, but he’s always been planning whatever it is carefully.

“It seems like it’s last-minute to them, but I have been planning it in my head,” he said.

Hyman said the friendships have been his favorite part of Nansemond River. He said he’s friends with anybody — to the point, in fact, that “most of my friends don’t like each other.”

“I put on a different façade for each of them,” Hyman said. “They all have their own different, unique stories.”