TEMPE, Ariz. (KPNX) – A 12 – year – old girl from Arizona is ready to go to college with plans to become a NASA scientist after graduation.
At 12, Alena Wicker is well on her way to fulfilling her dream at Arizona State University. She graduated from high school this year, running all of her home school classes fast. She will start college classes in the summer with the goal of working for NASA as an engineer.
“I had a goal that I wanted to achieve,” Alena said. “I’ve always dreamed of being an engineer because all my life I’ve loved building.”
Alena’s passion for building began with Lego sets when she was a child.
“At 4 years old, she said, ‘Mum, I’m going to work for NASA, and I’m going up there. ‘She used to draw on the stars,’ said her mother, Daphne McQuarter. “She just had a gift for numbers and Legos and science, so I started cultivating that gift.”
One to exceed expectations, Alena will be a double major in astronomy and planetary science and chemistry. If all goes well, it will be done by the college at 16 and out to NASA the same year. Her goal is to build rovers, like the one sent to Mars in a Sustainability mission.
“I will be driving one of those spacecraft in the future before I graduate college,” Alena said. “It doesn’t matter what age you are or what you plan to do. Go for it, dream, and then fulfill it. ”
Her next challenge is to build her online presence by launching a podcast.
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