Cambria Chatman to graduate, join the Air Force at only 18.
While most 18-year-olds are preparing for their first semester of college, Cambria Chatman is readying to cross the graduation stage and, just three days later, join the United States Air Force.
Chatman, who enrolled at the University of Mississippi when she was 16, having already earned an associate degree from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has her life laid out in front of her in to-do lists and plans. After basic training – for which she leaves on May 15, mere days after graduation – she plans to seek her master’s degree and then a degree in law.
“I want to be an attorney for the Air Force, a JAG,” Chatman said. “That means I’ll have to take the officer qualifying test pretty soon. But if I start studying for the LSAT in 2024, I should be able to get into law school by 2025.”
At 18, she’s already checked off many of the to-dos that most students would be only beginning: graduate high school, get into a great college, earn her degree – a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies with minors in political science, sociology and general business – and make post-college plans. For Chatman, however, that’s just the beginning.
“She gives herself a checklist for everything,” said Leslie White, Chatman’s mother. “She had a check list in high school, community college and still maintains one at Ole Miss. She’s going to check off graduation in May and then she’s going to check off basic training.
“I think that’s what makes her really complete her goals – that checklist.”
Throughout her young life, Chatman grew up alongside her grandparents and great grandmother in Natchez, White said. Growing up an only child with multiple generations of a family made her an old soul.
“I have to tell her, ‘Don’t forget to have fun,'” White said. “Can you believe that that’s one of the things I have to talk with her about? I have to tell her to go have fun.
“I want her to have a normal life and not just be tending to business all the time. I tell her it’s OK to mess up. It’s OK to fail.”
White, a teacher education professor in Louisiana, and Daniel White, a retired member of the U.S. Air Force and Chatman’s stepfather, taught Chatman to grow up valuing education and service. Her early exposure to reading, the arts, and education may have put her ahead in life, but White said it was Chatman’s determination that got her where she is.
“My mom, she always said education is your No. 1,” Chatman said. “She emphasized that. And my stepfather, he’s the reason why I want to go into the Air Force. I saw what the Air Force did for us growing up.”
training just days after graduating from the University of Mississippi at only 18. Submitted Photo
When Chatman first walked onto the Ole Miss campus in 2021, she fell in love with the buildings and atmosphere. It was the people at the Office of Veteran and Military Services, however, that made the campus feel like home.
“The people at the VA, they’re not friends, they’re family,” Chatman said. “If I need anything – anything – they’re who I go to.”
Stelenna Lloyd, operations coordinator at Veteran and Military Services, said she didn’t realize how young Chatman was when she first walked into her office, but that she quickly realized that, regardless of age, Chatman was special.
“This is a beautiful child. I’ve never seen a young person so motivated to do everything, and she wants to do everything.”
— Stelenna Lloyd, operations coordinator at Veteran and Military Services
“This is a beautiful child,” Lloyd said. “I’ve never seen a young person so motivated to do everything, and she wants to do everything.”
Chatman began working as a student assistant at VMS, where she helped file paperwork and take care of student veteran needs. The position was also a way for Lloyd to keep an eye on her.
“Stelenna is like an on-campus mom,” Chatman said. “I can come to her for anything, and she’s always checking in on me. If I’m not doing something she likes, she’ll say, ‘You better watch out or I’m going to call your mom.'”
“That’s our little joke,” Lloyd said. “But I think she knows she can come here for anything. If it’s studying or just talking, this is a safe place for students.”
Andrew Newby, assistant director of the office, said he, too, didn’t realize Chatman’s age when she first came to campus. Everything about her – from her actions to her sense of responsibility – seems like that of a much older student.
“She’s just a wonderful person to be around,” Newby said. “I know what college kids are like, I teach them. I know what normally matters for them, and it’s different for Cambria. She wants to serve. She has a servant’s heart.
“I don’t think we’re going to stop hearing her name around here. I think she’s going to do great things.”
College at 16. Chatman will graduate from the University of Mississippi this May with a bachelor’s
degree in Multidisciplinary Studies with emphases on political science, sociology and general business.
Submitted photo.
Though she’s graduating, Chatman said she intends to return to campus to visit the friends and family she’s made here, particularly those in Veteran and Military Services.
“I feel like I’ll have to come back to see them,” Chatman said. “You meet important people in your life, and you have to come back to see them. I’ll probably never meet people like them again.”
By Clara Turnage, University Marketing & Communications
Watch “Walking with Champions” video interview with Cambria Chatman.
