Student Spotlight

CLOCK PHOTO / NINA WEINSTEIN

Allison Wallace, a Senior Marketing major, packed her bags and kissed her beloved NH White Mountains goodbye to explore new altitudes in Austria, a German speaking country with not a lick of German in her vocabulary. Brave is one word to call her; adventure seeking is what she lives for. 

Spring Semester of her junior year here at Plymouth State University, Wallace sought out a new journey, furthering her education elsewhere. She grew up in Boxford, Massachusetts, familiar with the mountains on the East Coast. “Since my freshmen year at PSU I’ve grown to love hiking in NH and I set my goal high, to hit all the 4,000 footers since then. This soon became my passion and I wanted to experience what hiking was like on the other side of the world,” said Wallace. She was eager to see more than what was in front of her; she wanted to live in the photos that were presented to her by the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS). Austria is where she set out for. “I chose Austria because I wanted to experience a culture and language that I was unfamiliar with. The hiking and skiing is what really drew me to the location,” said Wallace.

Wallace unpacked her college luggage into her dorm room that looked onto Unterberg Mountain and jumped into her hiking shoes to set off on a new path.  Wasting no time, Wallace fervently climbed Gaisberg, overlooking the city of Salzburg along with Lake Konigsee, which was one of her favorite hikes, being able to see wildlife cross the road she was traveling on. “I took a train with a few friends one weekend to a ski town called Bad Gastein where the skiing and views were unbelievable. The train ride was so scenic to Flashau, which was another resort that I received a free ride to with a group from our program” said Wallace.  

The adventure seeker moved onto more untouched territories, one being Italy. “We stayed in the cleanest hostel I’ve ever been in on an island in Venice,” said Wallace.  “I did a small hike with my two friends around Lake Como in Northern Italy, and that night, we ate pizza and drank wine by the water.” 

Not only did Wallace travel to Austria but her program, AIFS, included weekend trips to Prague, touring the Schönbrunn Palace, and then followed by a trip to Vienne where she was presented with a performance show by the Spanish Riding School, “which was a dream come true” said Wallace, who has also been riding horses since she was a little girl. “My favorite parts of Prague were the Charles Bridge, John Lennon Wall, Castle, and the old town square,” said Wallace. 

Wallace didn’t stop there. She, along with the others in her program, was allowed a two-week spring break. Instead of staying where she was stationed, she moved onto a bigger and better adventure. “I met up with three different groups of friends and took a night train to Paris from Munich, woke up in Paris and it was beautiful outside, so we walked to the Eiffel Tower twice in one day. Seeing it sparkling up close was something I can hardly describe. After three days of exploring Paris, I woke up at 4:00am and took the train and then a bus to an airport located outside of Paris and flew to Dublin, Ireland. I then hopped right on a bus that took me to Galway, where I met up with two friends,” said Wallace. Taking advantage of her time abroad, Wallace brought back with her memories she will never forget, “the trip inspired me to work hard so I can continue to go back and experience Europe,” said Wallace.

After her adventure to many different places, Wallace settled back where she started, Plymouth, New Hampshire, where her heart will always be embedded into the White Mountains.