Alena Analeigh, a resident of Texas’s greater Fort Worth area, was recently accepted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heersink School of Medicine for the academic year 2024.
An advanced academic well beyond her years, Analeigh graduated high school in 2021 at the age of 12.
Analeigh is currently a junior at both Arizona State University and Huntsville private school Oakwood University, where she is seeking two separate undergraduate degrees in biological sciences, according to a feature recently published by The Washington Post.
Analeigh was accepted to medical school at UAB through the prestigious institution’s Early Assurance Program, which partners with Alabama HBCUs to offer early acceptance to prospective medical school applicants.
Her acceptance to UAB made the ambitious youth the youngest black person ever to be admitted to medical school in the United States.
While maintaining to the outlet that she was “still a normal 13-year-old,” Analeigh’s accomplishments would suggest that she has surpassed all expectations placed upon someone her age.
Fulfilling her “desire and hunger to learn,” she became NASA’s youngest intern last summer. According to Analeigh, it was a life-long dream of hers to work at the aeronautics agency.
While interning, she caught the eye of agency officials, who heaped praise on not only her longing for knowledge but her compassion as well.
Clayton Turner, the director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, said her desire in “wanting to help others, wanting to lift up others” was inspiring.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” said Turner, who was Analeigh’s mentor at the agency. “Alena is one of those exceptional intellects.”
According to The Washington Post, Analeigh first wanted to pursue a career in engineering. However, during her undergraduate studies, the prodigy decided she instead wanted to take on the field of medicine to serve the disadvantaged.
“A big part of what I want to do is viral immunology, and I want to advocate for underrepresented communities that lack health care,” she told the outlet. “It’s something that I’ve become passionate about.”
Her passion for people has been illustrated through her launching the Brown STEM Girl, an organization that aims to help minority females pursue educational opportunities in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Taking to Instagram to detail her journey, Analeigh touched on her upbringing and meteoric academic ascension.
“I graduated High school LAST YEAR at 12 years old and here I am one year later I’ve been accepted into Med School at 13. I’m a junior in college,” she wrote in the post. “Statistics would have said I never would have made it. A little black girl adopted from Fontana California.”
“I’ve worked so hard to reach my goals and live my dreams,” she added.
Analeigh credited her mother, Daphne McQuarter, for supporting her life passions.
“Mama I made it,” she wrote. “I couldn’t have done it without you. You gave me every opportunity possible to be successful.”
“You are the best mother a kid could ever ask for,” expressed Analeigh. “You always believed in me. You allowed me space to grow and become, make mistakes without making me feel bad. You allowed me the opportunity to experience the world.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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