Girl, 13, Accepted to Medical School a Year After Graduating High School: ‘Mama I Made It’

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A post shared by Alena Analeigh (@thebrownstemgirl)

When Alena Analeigh Wicker turned 13, she was accepted into the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama. When she applied to the school’s Early Assurance Program, which works with Alabama’s historically black colleges and universities, she was granted early admission.

After receiving her acceptance letter, she shared the news on Instagram.

“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.

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

The teen said, “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.”

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A post shared by Alena Analeigh (@thebrownstemgirl)

The youngster is currently enrolled in two college programs at Arizona State University and Oakwood University, all of which focus on biological sciences.

“I just have extremely good time management skills and I’m very disciplined,” 

When it comes to her education, Alena isn’t just focused on the classroom. As an intern with NASA in 2021, she will be the youngest person ever to do so. For Alena, the dream began at a young age, as she explained in an interview with The Baltimore Times.

“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.'”

Her ultimate aim is to become a flight surgeon and “work with astronauts,” she told the media site.

Despite her remarkable resume, Alena has yet to show her full potential. The Brown STEM Girl is an organization she started for girls of color interested in STEM careers, and she was a finalist for TIME’s Top Kid of the Year award this year.

She told the Washington Post, “What is age?” “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.”

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