A 13-year-old girl from Texas has just become one of the youngest Americans ever to be accepted into medical school.
In May, Alena Wicker received notification that she will be able to participate in the Burroughs Welcome Scholars Early Assurance Program at the University of Alabama Heersink School of Medicine.
Since her huge feat, the homeschooling prodigy has been thanking her mother and directing the world to God. She said on Facebook that “No matter what happens in life I choose to trust God in everything I do.”
A 13-year-old Alena Analeigh Wicker has already been accepted to an Alabama medical school as she wraps up her work on two undergraduate degrees in biological sciences, making her the youngest Black student to ever be accepted to a medical school. https://t.co/6bLX3k6lhG pic.twitter.com/qwM5KXB59e
— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) July 20, 2022
On June 30th, Alena shared on Instagram a note to her mother along with the acceptance letter she had received:
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“All I can say is that I’m thankful today. I finished high school YESTERDAY when I was 12 years old, and here I am today, one year later, having been accepted into medical school when I will be 13 years old. I’m currently in my junior year of college. If you were to believe the statistics, I had no chance of succeeding. A baby girl of African descent who was given a new home in Fontana, California. I have put forth a lot of effort to achieve my objectives and realize my ambitions. Mama I made it. Without you, I would not have been able to do it,” .
“I pray that God will bless me so abundantly that you will never, ever, at any point in your life on earth, need for anything. You gave up a lot for me (other people have no idea what we have been through), and now here I am, nearing the end of this chapter of my academic career even though it seems so far away. Time is flying by so quickly. I did it, Mom!” MOMMY I MADE IT!!!! The story of Wicker is over.
She also attached images of herself wearing a lab coat and a graduation gown from one of her current colleges, Arizona State University, to the note that she wrote to her mother.
Wicker has a positive attitude toward trying new things despite her early age. According to KPNX-TV, she has already completed two and a half years of college at both ASU and Oakwood University, making her a junior in college even though she was only 12 years old.
13-year-old girl is accepted to medical school https://t.co/jh6iEkCUl6
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 20, 2022
She is currently enrolled in two full course loads at both of the schools that she attends. According to The Birmingham Times, Wicker attends her classes online and then flies to each campus in order to finish her lab work. This keeps her schedule flexible.
She shared with KPNX that she plans to switch her major from engineering to medicine so that she can pursue her dream of becoming a viral immunologist.
Wicker shared her experience, stating, “It honestly only took one semester in engineering for me to realize that this is kind of not where I wanted to go.” “I believe that my desire for volunteering and going out there to engage with the world is truly where the idea for viral immunology came from.”