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Most people being treated for cancer want nothing more than to never see the inside of a hospital again. Not Peter. He set a goal to return to the very place he was treated, Randall Children’s Hospital – not as a patient, but as a nurse. To be there for kids just like him. That goal led him to Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox, where he thrived, not just in the nursing program, but as part of a community developing deep and lasting relationships.

One of those relationships was Caroline Wildhaber, the director of clinical experiences for nursing majors. “It seems like with each new class, God brings a handful of students into my life that I can connect with on an individual level,” she says. “I had that with Peter.”

Through multiple conversations, Caroline learned about Peter’s cancer journey and his goal to help kids in the same hospital where he was treated. So when it came time for senior clinical placements, she went to work advocating for him. But she’s quick to note that placements at Randall Children’s Hospital are highly competitive, and she could only do so much.

“Placements are based on student performance, commitment to nursing excellence and a desire to learn,” she says.

As it turned out, Peter had all that and more. And on a chilly December day, she was able to break the good news: There was only one spot available for a student nurse on the oncology wing of Randall Children’s Hospital, and it had been awarded to Peter.

“It was amazing sharing the news with him,” says Caroline. “I felt like I’d been on this journey with him.” For Peter, his journey had indeed come full circle in the most amazing way: from cancer patient to nurse, on the same floor where he was once treated.

“Taking on a new role, transitioning from being a patient to a student nurse, felt empowering,” he says. “Being able to return to Randall for my senior practicum was truly a gift and a blessing.”

After five weeks at the hospital, Ben was transferred to rehabilitation. “My goal from the very start of rehab was to get as close to normal as possible, because my life pre-accident was so much fun,” he says. “I loved being on campus with all of my friends and professors. I just wanted to come back to a place where I feel so known and valued and loved.”

And while Ben was recovering, an entire community at Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox was praying for him, sending notes of encouragement, and waiting to welcome him back with open arms.

“Robin Baker, the university president, sent my parents a handwritten note with his personal phone number on it,” Ben recalls. “Jamie Johnson, the campus pastor, called my parents multiple times and prayed with them. My faculty advisor was on my prayer team at Fox. I didn’t even know I had a prayer team until I returned to campus, and I just think that’s really cool.”

Dozens of encouraging notes from professors, visits from friends, check-ins from the university’s spiritual life team. And when Ben was ready to return to campus, he thrived. “My professors in the business department were phenomenal,” says Ben, who is a double major in management and marketing. “They put me in situations where I could succeed.”

Ben earned straight A’s for the first time in college, while also staying involved in choir and theatre, and fully immersing himself in his campus community.

“I used to laugh about the Be Known promise,” says Ben, now a senior. “I thought it was just a marketing gimmick that Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox used. Since my accident, I know that it’s real. They care about every single student on this campus. The faculty do, the administrators, your friends – they really care about you and will go the extra mile to ensure your success.”