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After an international exchange broadened her horizons, UNB Saint John campus business graduate Eliza Gallagher chose a season in Whistler over architecture school.

The travel bug has bitten Bachelor of Business Administration graduand Eliza Gallagher.

The University of New Brunswick grad, who earned top marks in her program on the Saint John campus, went on exchange to the University of Graz in Austria, and earlier this year was accepted to Dalhousie University’s School of Architecture.

The twist? Gallagher has ventured west instead of east.

She credits her European exchange experience as the catalyst for the change.

“It gave me more confidence in what I'm able to do,” she said from her new apartment in Whistler, B.C., where for the next seven months she’ll work at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Finding the right fit

Gallagher has always wanted to spread her wings. She started her university career in Nova Scotia in 2022, but within a few months, felt ready to return to her family home in Rothesay, N.B.

“I thought that I really wanted to go away and try living away and in a new town, but I just really didn’t like it,” Gallagher said. “It just wasn’t the right fit.”

She stuck the year out and transferred to the business program on UNB’s Saint John campus, where she began her second year of studies.

Right away, Gallagher felt confident in her decision. The smaller class sizes and diversity of students made her feel doubly at home.

“It was just so diverse, and I loved it.”

A semester in Austria

By Gallagher’s third year, she felt ready to venture away from home again. Along with some familiar faces, she hopped the pond and then some, landing at the University of Graz for a four-month academic exchange.

“I showed up and had three male roommates. One was from Italy, one was from Germany, one was from Austria. It was just so cool to live with people from all over Europe,” she said.

While the experience of living with boys wasn’t much of a departure for Gallagher — she grew up with two older brothers — the experience opened her eyes to new languages, cultures, and traditions.

“There are so many different cultures and types of people that I have never experienced,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot just through exposure to new and different groups of people.”

That openness and curiosity led to newfound confidence and a wider network of new friends.

Crossroads

Her experience abroad taught Gallagher that stepping out of her comfort zone can lead to opportunities she might never have considered.

That mindset also informed another major decision she had to make during her final year at UNB.

Gallagher’s long been interested in design and was accepted into architecture school. Most people expected her to make her way to Halifax for the start of the fall semester.

While she seriously considered accepting her spot, she decided to take the path less travelled.

“I realized that I didn’t want to be in a studio for the next four years and that there are other things I want to try out and see before I go back to school,” she said.

“I wanted to move away again, to live in a new place and meet more new people.”

And in Whistler, a resort town of transplants and tourists, possibilities for adventure and far-flung connections abound.

Heading west

Despite graduating at the top of her class and earning admission to a highly competitive architecture program, Gallagher has repeatedly chosen the path that feels right, rather than the one that others might expect.

After four years and four moves, from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, Austria to Whistler, Gallagher has discovered something important about herself: she can thrive in unfamiliar places.

“The exchange made me realize that I can do it — that I can make new friends in a new place.”