At just 12 years old, Alena Wicker stands out from her contemporaries. She is set to begin her studies at Arizona State University, where she will have a double major in astronomical and planetary science and chemistry, but even more than that, she already has the future planned out.
Wicker, who was home schooled has the ultimate goal of becoming an engineer for NASA someday and maybe space!
According to her, she developed her passion for science and engineering at a young age while playing with Lego sets. “I always dreamed of being an engineer because throughout my life I liked the building,” she said.
Proud mum, Daphne McQuarter, reveals her daughter has always wanted to work at NASA since she was 4, adding she noticed her daughter’s “gift for numbers and … science.” Daphne always encouraged 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, at age 16, she will join a long list of men and women in NASA : “I’ll be driving one of those future space mobiles by the time I graduate college,” she told KPNX.
