21
COM Outlook . Summer-Fall 2014
to have a better life. My mother, who
is one of nine children, was also from
a very poor family.”
Despite the lack of financial re-
sources, “I had a really good life,” Dr.
Wallace stated. “I was extremely active
in school and played on a number of
sports teams. In fact, I would say the
two things that were most influential
in relation to who I became as a per-
son were being in the Girl Scouts and
being a goalie in field hockey on my
junior and senior high school teams,
and later on the state of New Jersey’s
team. Being in the Girl Scouts was very
important because it shaped values
such as philanthropy, honesty, kind-
ness, and community service, while be-
ing a goalie shaped the fact that you’re
the last person there—and it’s your
responsibility to get the job done.”
Because she came from a working-
class background where putting food
on the table trumped pursuing higher
education, no one in her family ever
had the opportunity to earn a college
degree. In fact, many of her aunts and
uncles never had the chance to fin-
ish high school. “My father’s siblings
were almost all in the military, and my
mother’s family all worked blue-collar
jobs,” said Dr. Wallace, who would
make augmenting her education a
lifelong pursuit. “They had a sense of
what hard work really meant.”
Early Medical Mindset
Although no one in her family had
any vocational experience in the health
care field, Dr. Wallace announced to
her parents at a very early age that
becoming a physician was her career
goal. “When I was six, I decided I
wanted to become a doctor, but I have
no idea why,” she said. “I think it was
because I hated getting shots from my
pediatrician. I figured out at an early
age that if I was a doctor, I wouldn’t
have to take the shots anymore.”
With her medical mindset firmly in
place, Dr. Wallace looked forward to
the day when she would leave home
and embark on the college phase of
her educational journey. When it came
time to select an undergraduate univer-
sity, her mother offered up two choic-
es—live at home and go to college in
New Jersey or attend the University of
Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford.
“I was a little bit of a wild child in
high school, so Ole Miss was the only
place my mother would let me attend
out of state because my grandparents
lived in Mississippi,” she admitted.
“My mother thought it would be a safe
place for me to be, but I soon discov-
ered that the University of Mississippi
was, and still is, one of the top-three
party schools in the United States. It
was a party every day.”
Having lived in New Jersey from
birth, where a more progressive
attitude prevailed on most social
issues, becoming a student at the
University of Mississippi in the early
1970s provided Dr. Wallace with a
dissimilar dose of reality. “It was a
very interesting time and place to be
in Mississippi,” explained Dr. Wallace,
who is board certified in family medi-
Envisioning a bright future......Adorable in a dress......With her high school prom date.....Enthusiastic research assistant
Performing OMM on
a patient during an
international medical
outreach trip.
