DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. – There’s one Sylvania High School senior who is having an extra special graduation week. “It feels like this is what I’ve been working towards, and I’m very excited about it,” he expressed.

Christian Townson will be graduating twice. “I am going to be able to walk here at Northeast Alabama Community College a day before I walk at my high school class at Sylvania High School,” said Christian.

He said it all started after his 9th-grade year. He and his parents found out that he could do dual enrollment at Northeast Alabama Community College while in high school, just to earn some extra credits.

“The teachers at Sylvania were great with helping me with my dual enrollment classes and the college teachers here were great at working around my high school schedule.”

All of the courses he took also counted towards his curriculum at Sylvania. He even had some of the same teachers. “My math teacher Mr. Thomas Frost he’s been my math teacher from 10th grade on for three or four different math classes.”

After 3.5 years, Christian completed both high school and an associates program last December. “I’ll be able to go in with 61 credit hours for my undergraduate degree,” said Christian.

He was able to spend this past semester choosing the perfect college out of the 21 he applied for. He’s also been offered more than $1.1 million in scholarships. “I was looking for a college that would challenge me.”

Christian said it was a tough decision, but he couldn’t resist the Tide. “At University of Alabama, I’m going to major in pre-medical that way I can study to go to medical school, so I can become an orthopedic surgeon.”

As Christian prepares for his big days, he encourages everyone to take a leap of faith. “It actually helped motivate and propel other students to take advantage of this.” He said you don’t have to be smart to take the path he did, just motivated.