Alena Analeigh started college at Arizona State University last year at age 12. Now 13, she’s already secured her next move – into medical school. “I’m just happy and I’m living my dreams,” she said. “I’m doing what I love to do.” The Texas resident said she’s the youngest African American person to get into a U.S. medical school, and the second-youngest person overall. Analeigh was admitted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine’s early acceptance program and plans to start there in 2024. That program provides early admissions and opportunities during college as students prepare to enroll. The application was “super stressful,” she said, with an interview, personal statement and long process, but she’s grateful to be admitted. “If I could say anything to another little girl that looks like me: never stop believing, don’t give up on your dreams just because somebody tells you ‘no.’ And even if it seems impossible, it’s not impossible, and I’m proof that you can do anything that you put your mind and your heart to," she said in an interview.