Her father's sister, her aunt Julia Reynolds, helped raise Alice. Alice liked reading and being around grownups. When she was 12, her mother died while giving birth to one of her siblings. Alice's father sent her and her younger sister Florence to the Brigham Young Academy (BYA) for their high school education. Alice was inspired by one of her teachers, Academy Principal Karl G. Maeser. She graduated from BYA in 1890.