When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Joliet Junior College classes to go online last year, Savaghna Moffett said she wondered whether she could handle remote learning in an already challenging nursing program.

Moffett, 29, said she questioned if it would be best to not return after that semester.

“I cannot do this from home,” she recalled thinking. “It was so hard already and to not have my teachers in front of me, I just thought I was going to sit out.”

But after some encouragement from friends, Moffett decided to stick with it. Plus, she said seeing the effects of the pandemic during her part-time job as a pharmacy technician at a local hospital made her more determined to finish her degree and join the fight against the pandemic.

“I signed up to go through all of this and I’m ready and willing to and that’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to wait it out,” she said. “I wanted to get out there.”

Fast forward to last week, and Moffett was one of about 50 JJC nursing students who celebrated their graduation. JJC President Judy Mitchell said during the ceremony the school has the largest community college-based nursing program in the state. The school also has much to brag about, as its graduates routinely pass the exam needed to earn a nursing license at higher rates than the national average.

For Moffett and some of her classmates, the unprecedented challenges of the past year only strengthened their resolve to enter the profession.

Even prior to the pandemic, students described in interviews how much of a challenge it was to simply learn how to think like a nurse. They said it took time figure out that in situations nurses face everyday, there isn’t necessarily one right answer to a problem. It’s more a matter of prioritizing their patients’ most urgent needs.

“It’s easier in the books, but when it comes to real life, it’s like a whole other ballgame,” Moffett said.

Students said JJC’s program allowed them the flexibility of taking classes during unconventional hours, while also offering an affordable price. They were also able apply what they learn in the classroom in clinical settings at local hospitals and nursing homes.

The pandemic interrupted that part of their education as classes went virtual, but JJC students lauded their professors for making the best out of the situation.

“Everyone had to change gears and it was different, but they did a great job with it,” said September Skeen, 37, of Plainfield.

Then as COVID-19 vaccines became available, the students were able to get their shots while also gaining experience administering them. JJC, along with other local colleges, helped the Will County Health Department ramp up its vaccination program earlier this year as residents sought protection from the virus that’s killed over 1,000 county residents.

Still, Moffett and her classmates admitted they felt somewhat anxious getting back into the swing of applying their education to real life.

“Being online (for the last few months), it kind of made us feel like, ‘Do we know what we’re doing?’” said Whitney Leach, 27, of Coal City.

But each student said it didn’t take long for them to get back into a groove. One even equated it to remembering how to ride a bicycle. They also said having the opportunity to interact with someone face-to-face reminded them of why they wanted to be nurses in the first place.

“I want to interact with people,” Moffett said. “I want to help people. I just want to make someone’s day even if they’re sick and they’re down.”

Leach and Skeen also told of a recent patient of theirs whose progress illustrated why they wanted to take on such a demanding job.

This past semester, they’d been working at a specialty hospital in Hinsdale where patients recover from prolonged, severe illnesses. Some of these patients had been in accidents or were even being weaned off a ventilator after recovering from COVID-19.

Skeen said while she and Leach were there, the workers had been helping one patient who needed to use a feeding tube as he recovered. A recent swallow test showed he was ready to try to eat like normal again.

“His face just lit up,” Skeen said of the patient after he was told the news. “He was so, so happy to get some real food.”

Not long after, they said they saw him again and were delighted to see the progress he kept making. Leach said it was “so cool” to see him strong enough to sit up in bed and he was even able to wave at her as she checked in on him.

“Just to see progress like that,” Skeen said, “it was so rewarding.”