THE BUZZ!
Texas teen was told girls of color couldn’t do well. She’s graduating college at 14.
Alena McQuarter, a 14-year-old from Florida, is a teenage prodigy.
At 12 she completed high school. Then was the youngest NASA intern and the youngest Black individual to secure admission to medical school.
She will graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical biological sciences with a minor in global health and plans to pursue her master’s immediately.
Remarkably, her journey might have taken a different course had she heeded the misguided advice of her fifth-grade principal. This principal had once told her that young girls of color couldn’t thrive academically or achieve success in state exams.
“It did kind of hurt because I worked hard to get the grades that I got,” she said. “Someone comes and tells you, ‘You can’t do this because you’re too young or you’re a girl of color.’ I really wanted to show her that I can get good grades and I can go on and do amazing things. So I’m proving that.”
She is also looking out for her fellow young ladies. The teenage prodigy founded the Brown STEMGirl, an organization for girls of color who want to study science, technology, engineering, and math.
“I’ve always tried to prove that girls of color can do what they put their minds to,” she told USA TODAY. “Being able to graduate at 12 from high school and going into college, I just want to inspire other girls to follow their dreams.”
That is just amazing.
