The Bright Side Series: Allison Schwarm

Allison is pursuing a degree in Hospitality Business Management with a Spanish minor at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. She was quarantined with her parents in Sherwood, Oregon, but moved to her house in Pullman to finish the rest of the semester with her roommates. Before quarantine, Allison was involved in the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, volunteered at the on-campus church doing child-care, served with Backyard Harvest, which provides fresh produce to families in the area that struggle financially, and worked at the Washington State Creamery. Her advice to others in quarantine is to “find some kind of routine. You have to adapt to this new reality. It helps to add some normalcy.”

The Bright Side Series: Peyton Reuter

Peyton is pursuing a degree in Nursing with a minor in Psychology from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She is quarantined with four of her family members in Sherwood, Oregon. Prior to moving to online courses for the rest of the semester, Peyton was finishing up her nursing clinical courses at Sacred Heart Hospital, was a part of a nursing mentor program and worked at the Library on campus on the weekends. Her advice to others going through quarantine is to “have faith that the government will figure it out. You are not the only one battling through it, and all we can do is hope for a good outcome.”

The Bright Side Series: Meghan Howard

Meghan is pursuing a degree in Elementary Education with an English for Speakers in Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. She is quarantined with her family and boyfriend in Sherwood, Oregon. Prior to school transitioning online, Meghan was a full-time student teacher at Tualatin Elementary School. Her advice to others in quarantine is “try not to focus on the negatives. Do things you enjoy and take this time to do something positive for yourself.”

The Bright Side Series: Brooke Snyder

Brooke is a student-athlete pursuing a degree in Marketing with a minor in Sport Management from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. She is quarantined with three of her teammates in McMinnville. Brooke played softball, was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and represented her team on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee at Linfield. After learning her final season of softball was cut short, her advice to others in quarantine is to “Make something positive out of it. Things could always be worse. Take this time to do something you have always wanted to try but never had the time to do.”