FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF News ) – A 14-year-old prodigy from Fort Worth is raising money to continue her post graduate education as a biomedical major.
Alena McQuarter is a senior at Arizona State University and a part of the college’s Barrett Honors College. She’s also the youngest intern in NASA history at 12 and person of color to be accepted into medical school at 13. The University of Alabama’s Heersink School of Medicine accepted Alena into its program.
Her mother Daphne McQuarter said the dean’s list student has a passion for people.
“She wants to go on to grad school and obtain her degree viral immunology and infectious disease…and, in her words, wants to travel the world and advocate for underrepresented communities and healthcare globally,” she said.
Alena is on a partial scholarship but not everything is covered in her upcoming course load.
“Like fees and those types of things. In addition to that, because she’s applying to grad schools there are also extra expenses that she has to incur to traveling to these schools…to tour the schools…application fees, There are other classes that she needed to take outside of Arizona State that is not covered that she has to pay for,” said her mother Daphne.
Alena will finish her bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University in December and will receive her master’s at ASU in the spring of 2024.
Alena also advocates for girls of color to purse sciences through her platform ” The Brown STEM Girl.”
The Brown STEM Girl scholarship program encourages girls of color interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Alena’s mother Daphne said she knows her daughter will be make a positive difference in our world.
“While we see her name everywhere now, I think there’s a bigger mission, a bigger purpose for Alena to be able to do what she loves and make a change in society,” she said. “For me as a mom, Alena only has one job. That one job that I have given her since she was three was to show up great in the world…Alena has done that. So, there is no opportunity that she doesn’t deserve.”
Click here to donate to Alena’s education.
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