Peyton Reuter, a Gonzaga nursing student and psychology minor, was on spring break with two of her closest friends, who are also nursing students, in the Big Sur when she got the news. At the time, Peyton and her friends were shopping for dresses to wear to Gonzaga’s annual Senior Ball when their phones vibrated from an email notification from their university. The email said that students would not return to campus to finish their semester due to the rise of coronavirus cases in Washington and were advised to stay home for the rest of the school year and finish their courses online.

To Peyton and all the other nursing students, finishing their courses online would be very difficult. Over the course of several years, nursing students are required to spend a certain amount of hours in the hospital, what they call “clinical hours”, in order to be accepted as a fully trained nurse. Yet, due to the coronavirus, nursing students were no longer allowed to attend their clinical hours. So how would these students graduate on time?

“Well, because Gonzaga’s nursing program is pretty intense, we actually achieve the required amount of clinical hours prior to senior year even beginning,” said Peyton. She was not kidding when she said her program is intense. Just this semester, Peyton was in class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday with only a few 30 minute breaks in between. On Wednesday and Friday, she attended Sacred Heart hospital for her clinicals from 6:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekly. On the weekends, she worked at the school library for a total of 8 hours. When she was not in class, she spent at least 10-15 hours a week studying and doing homework, sometimes more if she had a test that week.

“I would get off from my shift at the library at around 2 or 3 and stay until 5 o’clock to study,” said Peyton. The level of exhaustion from studying and clinicals was almost unbearable, so when breaks from school come along, Peyton said she cherished the time to finally rest. However, when the coronavirus struck, this is not the kind of break she had in mind.

Transitioning to an online format has been interesting, to say the least. Her clinical hours are now completed through an online simulation. “It’s been really difficult to stay motivated. I feel a bit cheated because I’m not getting that human interaction piece that all of the nursing students before me got when they did their clinicals in-person,” said Peyton.

Although challenging to complete her clinicals from home, she feels better knowing that she has another semester left before officially finishing nursing school. Peyton had plans to walk across the stage at graduation this spring with her classmates; however, she will come back in the fall to work alongside a labor and delivery nurse to finish off her nursing education. “I hope to get a job in labor and delivery after I graduate. I’ll probably start off on the night shift wherever I work, but I’m looking forward to starting my career,” she said.

Peyton first heard about the coronavirus while working at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington in late January or early February. Some of the health care professionals feared that the virus might make its way to the United States soon. Sacred Heart, specifically, created confinement rooms for patients several years back when Ebola was at its height. Peyton said, “the hospital had to start preparing for the coronavirus, just in case people needed to be transported here.” She did not hear anything from Gonzaga about the coronavirus until late February and again in mid-March when the university decided to move to online learning.

At college, most of Peyton’s time was dedicated to her schoolwork; however, when she did have free time she was a part of “The Hearts,” which is a nursing student mentor program and hung out with her friends who were also nursing students. Her favorite part about college was “making really good friends and getting to live with them- I miss doing homework with them between classes. I also love my professors. They are very funny and compassionate people.” Peyton recalls countless memories with her friends including attending several concerts, attending basketball games, and having “friendsgivings”. However, something as simple as going on long drives around Spokane just to get away from studying for a little bit are some of her fondest moments. 

Not only did the reality of Peyton’s nursing courses take a drastic turn, but so did the rest of the plans for her semester. Peyton had plans to attend graduation parties, celebrate friends birthdays, go bar hopping, spend a weekend with her family at a lake house nearby and attend the annual Senior Ball put on by Gonzaga to celebrate the accomplishments of all senior graduates. Peyton said, “I remember all the seniors before me and what a special time it was for them and we don’t get that same opportunity.”

Through all of these devastating cancellations, life has continued to go on for Peyton. She moved home to quarantine with her family and dogs. Although it was difficult to give up some of these precious moments, Peyton has learned to find ways to remain positive. The greatest joy in all of this has been spending time with her dad, who usually works overseas in China for Under Armour. “The next time I was supposed to see him was my graduation, so it’s been really nice to have him here with us for quarantine,” she said.

In addition to spending time with her dad, her younger brother, who is a freshman at Oregon State, and grandma also moved back into the house. They have been walking their dogs, playing games, watching movies and eating lots of meals together. Peyton said, “I even bought a Nintendo Switch to keep me entertained.”

To take care of herself, she’s attempted to stay physically active while taking breaks from school work. Also, she bought some self-tanner and tried it out. She said this is something she would have been scared to do before if the outcome was bad, but because she’s in quarantine and knows that no one will see her, she is willing to take those risks. Perhaps one of her greatest stress relievers is spending time with her dogs. She said, “I love them so much! They are always there and follow me around the house.”

Her advice to others in quarantine is to, “make sure to separate yourself from the situation. It’s still important to have fun, even in quarantine… Also, know that you are not the only one going through this. Have hope that there will be a good outcome.”

In reflection of the coronavirus and this quarantine, Peyton said, “It’s interesting. This is going to be something that will be in the history books and we will look back on this and think, ‘I lived through the pandemic.’” For someone whose entire semester was flipped upside down, this is certainly an unforgettable time. Yet through the challenges that Peyton has faced, she’s continued to approach it with a ‘can-do’ attitude and hope in the efforts to socially distance ourselves to slow the spread of the virus. Peyton’s mindset is something each of us could learn a little something from.