Washington College senior swimmer Allison Gallagher has had her sight on becoming a pharmacist for a long, long time. She’s already laying out a path to her future career. Last summer, the Chestertown-based College’s Cater Society of Junior Fellows gave her grant for an internship at Brown University, where she did research on proteins that are found in higher concentrations in patients who have cancer and arthritis.
“The research helped me understand the ins and outs of developing a drug,” Gallagher explains.
She’s also learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be pharmacist. She worked as a pharmacist technician this summer and will head off to pharmacy school in the fall of 2021. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Connecticut top her list.
Gallagher, who carries a 3.9 grade-point average, majors in chemistry with a biophysics concentration and minor in biology. “Pharmacy was one of the fields where I could combine my love for chemistry and the medical field,” she says. “I have always had interest in helping people, so going into the medical field will allow me to help others.”
The 21-year-old Gallagher keeps a packed schedule. One of her most important extracurricular activities involves tutoring fellow Washington College students in biology. Once a week, she leads a review session to gives students the chance to quiz her about the course material and helps them prepare for exams.
“I love to help out the kids that I mentor so they can become more successful,” she says. Gallagher also helps elementary school students become better swimmers for four weeks before her winter swimming season and eight after it. “Helping the kids develop their swimming skills is very important to me,” she says. “I want to see them improve.”
She also belongs to the sorority Alpha Omicron Pi, which is committed to the philanthropic mission of juvenile arthritis. They raised $1,800 in a Valentine’s Day fundraiser selling roses. “We have several fundraisers throughout the year, and we went to duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware to spend a day with the children who have juvenile arthritis,” she says. “We raise money that goes toward research and not just awareness.”
On top of that, she finds time to plays the steel drum in the college’s ensemble. “It gives me a break,” she says. “I always felt music has helped me be a better student and helps with all the memorization I have got to do. I have been playing instruments since the fourth grade. I started off with the trumpet, switched to the baritone horn. Then, in the first semester of college, I took up the steel drum.”
Washington College Assistant Swim Coach Philip Quick admires Gallagher for her incredible schedule of activities. “I wonder how she does it all,” he says. “I was a Division III swimmer myself and you still feel overwhelmed no matter how good a student you are. But she handles it all so well from the academics to her extra-curricular activities.”
Gallagher has another thing to add to her resume: co-captain of the 2020/2021 swim team. “She wants to be in the forefront,” he says. “She brings people together. We call her the hammer. She drops the hammer when she needs to. She leads by example and keeping people in their place.”
Washington College Head Swim Coach Mark Hill adds, “She will get on the guys if they are not doing what they are supposed to. I love that about her.”
The 5-foot-5-inch Gallagher, a native of Saunderstown, Rhode Island, is valuable member of Washington’s women’s swim team, which practices with the men’s squad. She ranks in the top 10 on Washington’s all-time list in two different events: the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.96) and the 200 backstroke (2:13.59).
In the Centennial Conference championships in late February, she competed in three individual events and four relays. That heavy workload of seven events was the most by any Shorewomen swimmer. “She had a great season, and swam at high level,” Hill says. “She led off our 800 free relay that won a bronze medal. She’s an MVP on our team as much as anybody else.”
Gallagher quickly turns to her homework after a meet, and she usually has plenty of it. “It’s a lot of time management,” she says. “Sometimes, I will have to balance things if I have two meetings at the same time. I went to this meeting last time. So now I will go to this one. It has happened before. During the week, I don’t go out much and hang out with friends. I will hang out with a friend in the library.”
