13-Year-Old Girl Gets Accepted to Medical School a Year After Graduating High School: 'Mama I Made It'

Amanda Taylor
·3 min read
19
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRoy9PzoOg1/ thebrownstemgirl's profile picture thebrownstemgirl Link in Bio Any amount helps support a Brown STEM Girl Scolar! Hey Everyone here's an opportunity of a lifetime to support a Brown STEM Girl. It's Alena Analeigh's desire to create cultural awareness through STEM and provide four amazing girls an opportunity of a life time to go beyond their own communities. The Brow STEM Girl has an opportunity for you to help sponsor four girls on this amazing trip to visit the Iconic Art Science Museum in Singapore. All donations are tax-deductible and please share if you can https://gofund.me/a4e594fe Edited · 52w

thebrownstemgirl/Instagram Alena Analeigh Wicker

The world is her oyster.

Alena Analeigh Wicker is just 13 and she was recently accepted into the University of Alabama's Heersink School of Medicine for 2024. According to The Washington Post, she was accepted as part of the school's Early Assurance Program, which partners with HBCU schools in Alabama to offer students early acceptance as they plan to enter medical school.

Shortly after getting the acceptance letter, she opened up on Instagram about the exciting news.

"I graduated High school LAST YEAR at 12 years old and here I am one year later I've been accepted into Med School at 13. I'm a junior in college," she wrote. "Statistics would have said I never would have made it. A little black girl adopted from Fontana California."

"I've worked so hard to reach my goals and live my dreams," she added, going on to credit her mother, Daphne McQuarter, for all her support.

RELATED: 13-Year-Old Boy Is Set to Start Graduate School This Fall — But He Still Feels Like a 'Regular' Kid

"Mama I made it," Alena wrote. "I couldn't have done it without you. You gave me every opportunity possible to be successful."

"You are the best mother a kid could ever ask for," the teen added. "You always believed in me.You allowed me space to grow and become, make mistakes without making me feel bad. You allowed me the opportunity to experience the world."

Of course, like any other kid her age, Alena enjoys going to the movies, baking, and spending time with her friends.

"I'm still a normal 13-year-old," she told The Washington Post.

RELATED: 19-Year-Old Texas Student Becomes Nation's Youngest Black Law School Graduate: 'It Feels Really Good'

The teen is currently a student in two undergraduate programs studying biological sciences at both Arizona State University and Oakwood University.

"I just have extremely good time management skills and I'm very disciplined," she told the Post.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Alena isn't only focused on the classroom when it comes to her education. In 2021 she became the youngest intern ever at NASA. In an interview with The Baltimore Times, Alena said the dream started early for her.

"I was around three or four years old when I became fascinated with the stars and space and LEGOs," Alena said. "My mom began taking me to different astronomy nights and NASA Centers. I remember walking in saying 'I am going to work here one day, and I will be the youngest girl of color to work here.'"

She also told the outlet her ultimate goal is to become a flight surgeon and "work with astronauts."

Alena's impressive achievements don't even stop there. She also founded the Brown STEM Girl, an organization for girls of color who are interested in exploring careers in STEM -- and was a finalist for this year's TIME's Top Kid of the Year.

"What is age?" she told The Washington Post. "You're not too young to do anything. I feel like I have proven to myself that I can do anything that I put my heart and mind to."