Alena Analeigh Wicker is just like most kids her age. She enjoys the movies, playing soccer and hanging out with friends. Unlike most teenagers, though, Wicker just got accepted to medical school.
“I’m still a normal 13-year-old,” said Alena, a student at both Arizona State University and Oakwood University, “I just have extremely good time management skills and I’m very disciplined.”
Ten years younger than most students who enter medical school, Wicker was accepted to the University of Alabama’s Heerskink School of Medicine for 2024, as part of their Early Assurance Program.
The program offers early admission for applicants who qualify by meeting certain application requirements and standards. Wicker completes most of her classes online.
From around the age of three, Wicker’s mother, Daphne McQuarter, started noticing that her daughter was different.
“It was just how she did things and how advanced she was. She was reading chapter books,” she told the Washington Post.
While Wicker has many academic accolades, she still faces the same issues any other child would at school. For example, a boy at school bullied Wicker and called her names, which led to her withdrawING her from school and home-schooling her for several years.
“We’ve had such an amazing relationship because I always gave her the space to be a kid, grow, make mistakes and learn. She knew she always had a voice in anything, including her education,” said McQuarter.
Wicker went back to school for the fifth grade, where she continued to take advanced courses, along with a curriculum her mother created. Then, during the pandemic, her education shifted.
“I was bored,” said Wicker “The high school work was so easy for me that I ended up graduating from high school at 12 years old.”
Her desire to keep learning piqued her interest in STEM — science, technology, engineering, and math. In 2021, she was the youngest person to become a NASA intern.
While Wicker focuses on college, she’s also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. She created The Brown STEM Girl, an organization that’s providing opportunities for girls of color interested in exploring a career in science.
“We’re showing the world that there are other girls out there that are just like me, and they deserve an opportunity and a chance,” said Wicker.”
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