A 12-year-old genius is making her parents — and the nation — proud with her latest accomplishment.
Alena Wicker is set to begin her studies at Arizona State University, where she will have a double major in astronomical and planetary science and chemistry. Wicker’s ultimate goal, she says, is to become an engineer for NASA someday — and maybe even go into space!
“I always dreamed of being an engineer because throughout my life I liked the building,” she told Arizona’s 11Alive News.
She also said that she plans to finish college by the time she turns 16, and has every intention of not only building space rovers that are sent to other planets, but to drive the rovers in space, as well.
Daphne McQuarter, the proud mother of the amazing 12-year-old girl, said that she wanted her daughter to chase her dreams, and was fully behind her efforts in doing so. She also said that when she first noticed her daughter’s special talents, she wanted to encourage her to keep developing them.
“She just had a gift for numbers and Lego and science so I started nurturing that gift,” McQuarter said to 11Alive.
If Wicker succeeds in her efforts, she will join a long list of Black men and women in NASA who are “hidden figures no more.” We love to see it!
