BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Move over, Doogie Howser: A 13-year-old Texas girl is on her way to becoming a doctor after she was accepted into medical school.
According to KPNX-TV and The Birmingham Times, Alena Analeigh Wicker, who was just 12 when she graduated from high school, is already a college junior after piling on the courses at Arizona State University and Alabama’s Oakwood University. Now, she has another accomplishment to add to her list: early acceptance into the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heersink School of Medicine.
Alena, the youngest Black student to be accepted into a U.S. med school, took to Instagram last month to share the news.
“Statistics would have said I never would have made it,” Alena wrote in the June 30 post, which included a screenshot of her letter from the Burroughs Wellcome Scholars Early Assurance Program. “A little black girl adopted from Fontana, California. I’ve worked so hard to reach my goals and live my dreams. Mama, I made it. I couldn’t have done it without you. You gave me every opportunity possible to be successful. You cheered me on, wiped my tears, gave me Oreos when I needed comfort, you never allowed me to settle, disciplined me when I needed. You are the best mother a kid could ever ask for. MAMA, I MADE IT! 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.”
Although Alena initially entered college with aspirations of studying engineering and pursuing a career with NASA, she quickly changed course after visiting Jordan and working with the mentorship and scholarship organization she founded, The Brown STEM Girl, according to KPNX. Her new goal – to become a viral immunologist – “really came from my passion for volunteering and going out there, engaging with the world,” she told the TV station.
Alena, who was a finalist for Time’s Top Kid of the Year award, said she hopes to become a doctor by age 18, KPNX reported.