Knowledge is power! Roomies, there is no limit on what you can do when you keep education at the forefront of your life, and 12-year-old straight-A student Alena Wicker is proving just that! The Dallas-Forth Worth resident is set to graduate high school soon and plans on attending Arizona State University to become an Engineer and live out her dream of working for NASA! According to her mother, Dr. Daphne McQuarter, who has home and world schooled her, admits working for NASA has been Alena’s dream since an early age. “At 4 years old, she said, ‘Mommy, I’m going to work for NASA, and I’m going to go up there.’ She would point to the stars,” said Dr. Daphne. “She just had a gift for numbers and Legos and science, so I started nurturing that gift.”
Her mother told TSR exclusively that Alena worked hard and has been doubling up on her course, and has already begun taking college courses. She actually had no idea that Alena applied for college. She said Alena went and filled out the FAFSA form herself and surprised her mom. Alena chose to attend ASU because they have a partnership with NASA and offer the Space Exploration program. The overachiever will be obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Astronomical and Planetary Science with a double degree in Chemistry! Alena has the goal of becoming the youngest black woman to work for NASA once she graduates at 16. She is also the youngest member of NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers.)
Dr. Daphne is very proud of her daughter and has supported Alena’s goals by taking trips every summer to visit different NASA plants as well as the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, so that she can see that Alena belongs in the STEM space. Baby girl isn’t stopping there. She’s getting ready to launch an entire platform for the “Brown STEM girl.” It will be an online platform for Black girls in STEM, where they can log in, connect with other Black girls, receive resources, and get help. She will be launching a hoodie line and podcast. She even plans on launching a Children’s book that she plans on calling ‘Brainiac World’ coming soon.
This is Black Girl Magic! Congratulations Alena!
