The 2020 spring semester was no ordinary year for Calhoun Community College nursing student Elizabeth Ovalle.

Ovalle enrolled in Calhoun immediately after high school, during the fall of 2017. A presidential honors student and a potential candidate for Calhoun’s nursing school, she began taking general education courses to jump-start her educational journey.

The Athens native remembers growing up as a child and always wanting to pursue a career that directly assisted people.

“Even at a very young age, I was always interested in working with mothers and their babies and found that type of work fulfilling,” Ovalle said.

Close to the end of March, while most students were on spring break, Ovalle noticed she was having a difficult time breathing. When the symptoms persisted, making it even more difficult to take in and release breaths, she went to Athens-Limestone Hospital, where she was immediately admitted. After a few tests were ran, Ovalle received the news that she tested positive for COVID-19. Due to her breathing, she was placed on a ventilator.

After being on a ventilator for two weeks, she learned her breathing had improved enough for her to be taken off and breathe on her own. Once she was stable, she recalls a very sweet patient care aide who came to speak with her. Amid the conversation, the aide uttered words that tore Ovalle’s heart to pieces: “Your mother has also tested positive for COVID-19. She is extremely sick a few rooms down from you and is on a ventilator.”

Struggling to gather her thoughts and emotions, Ovalle felt helpless, as there was nothing she could do for her mother since she, too, was in the hospital with COVID-19. She began thinking about nursing school and all of the required clinical hours, exams and coursework that must be completed to graduate successfully from the program and became discouraged.

“The time I had alone, my mind wandered to the encouraging and motivating words my mom always said to me, and that was to never give up, and if I could physically do something, then what was stopping me?” Ovalle said.

She recalled that being her strength to fight. She contacted Calhoun’s nursing department to explain what was going on. She said she was greeted with warm comments, encouragement and messages to focus on getting better and to try again next semester. That is when she informed her instructors that she wasn’t calling to say she was sitting out, she was calling to find out how she could access her courses online and keep going.

“When we heard the news about Elizabeth, we were all heartbroken, as she is one of those students who is determined and doesn’t let anything get in her way,” said Lynn Hogan, chair of Calhoun’s nursing department. “When she requested her coursework and exams, we were floored, as not only did she pass them, but she passed them with high scores despite everything she was going through physically and mentally.”

With nothing but time on her hands in the hospital, she used that time to study.

A month later, things began looking on the bright side for Ovalle and her mother. They were both out of the hospital and free of COVID-19. That is until June 2020, when Elizabeth relapsed and began having difficulty breathing. She visited Huntsville Hospital and was admitted, yet again, to the hospital and also placed on a ventilator.

This diagnosis of COVID-19 was more aggressive than her previous experience, as the doctors attempted to intubate her but were unsuccessful as her throat closed off, causing her to immediately go into cardiac arrest. The doctors were able to resuscitate her.

The second attempt was successful. During this time, Ovalle’s mother was also diagnosed with COVID-19 again and was on a ventilator several times. The doctors were able to perform a tracheostomy on her, which improved her breathing so that she no longer needed a ventilator.

Out of the hospital and recovering, Ovalle did not miss a beat with her nursing coursework. As the college was 100% online, like all other institutions across the nation working through the pandemic, the partner hospitals provided strict protocols to keep students safe during their required clinicals. Ovalle missed a few while she was hospitalized but worked closely with her instructors to make up all of the required in-person clinicals during her fifth semester.

As the spring 2021 semester was coming to an end and final grades were posted, Ovalle learned not only would she graduate from Calhoun’s nursing program in 2021, she was also nominated for the “Most Outstanding Student Award for 2021” by the Calhoun nursing faculty during their most recent nursing candle lighting ceremony.

“I am so thankful for all of my Calhoun nursing instructors for being so patient with me and understanding with my strong-minded personality that made me want to keep going and not quit even though I was sick,” Ovalle said. “The support system was more than I could have ever imagined. They sent me a gift basket as well as a check from the Calhoun Foundation Emergency Fund for Students. I am beyond grateful for the amazing people at Calhoun.”

Close family and friends raised more than $1,400 through GoFundMe for Ovalle and her mother, which assisted with a few hospital bills. The remainder of the hospital bills were paid in full by hospital donors. Ovalle is still battling with lingering breathing issues such as subglottic stenosis due to COVID-19 but said it won’t stop her and she will keep going. She is officially a registered nurse.