12-year-old prodigy Alena Wicker set to attend Arizona State University, plans to land job at NASA

ARIZONA — A 12-year-old prodigy is off to college.

Alena Wicker, of Arizona, has already completed high school through at-home schooling.

Now, she’s off to Arizona State University.

She plans to major in astronomical and planetary sciences and chemistry.

Her passion for building started as an infant with LEGOs.

Wicker’s hope is to land a job at NASA when she’s 16.

“I’ll be driving one of those future space mobiles by the time I graduate college,” she said.

Her goal is to build rovers like the one sent to Mars in the Perseverance mission.

“It doesn’t matter what your age or what you’re planning to do,” Wicker said. “Go for it, dream, then accomplish it.”