Age really is just a number for child prodigy Alena Wicker who's headed to college at Arizona State University this fall.
Not your typical 12-year-old
For many of us, at 12 years old we were too busy biking around our neighborhoods to be serious about our homework. But not Alena Wicker.
She spent her childhood playing with LEGO and acing all her tests.
As a gifted student, she powered her way up the grades well past her age group. This year, Wicker graduated from high school as a tween despite pandemic lockdowns forcing her to learn from home.
According to ABC 7, Wicker has now been accepted into Arizona State University where she'll attend major in astronomical and planetary sciences and chemistry — because of course.
A future NASA engineer
Wicker hopes to be finished college at 16, which would make her one of the youngest people ever to graduate from a four-year degree — the record is set by Michael Kearney who graduated as a 10-year-old in 1994.
After graduation, Wicker already has dreams for her career that are up in the stars — she hopes to land a job at NASA.
"I'll be driving one of those future space mobiles by the time I graduate college," she told ABC 7.
The prodigy had words of wisdom for the TV cameras:
"It doesn't matter what your age or what you're planning to do. Go for it, dream, then accomplish it."
Alena Wicker
Work hard to accomplish your dreams
This incredible phenom said it perfectly — yes, we can achieve our dreams with hard work. However, if we aren't geniuses at 12 then we can't be too hard on ourselves either. Success is different for different people and it's the work that you put into it that counts.
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Two of Mr. Moriarty's students pose with their yearbook from 1982.WHAM via CNN / Video
man holding a yearbookWHAM via CNN / Video
Black and white photos from school yearbookWHAM via CNN / Video
Patrick Moriarty (center, blue shirt) and a group of his former students watched the solar eclipse together on Monday in New York.Caitlin Moriarty Hynick
