In our latest segment of “Where Are They Now?,” we catch up with Bethany Crenshaw (Storms). Bethany was a three-sport standout at Houston County HS and came to Georgia Southern in the fall of 2007 from her hometown of Warner Robins, Ga. She played for the Eagles from 2008-11, seeing action in 151 games over her four year career and earning NFCA Scholar Athlete honors as a sophomore in 2009. Bethany also got involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) after her junior year.

Bethany graduated from Georgia Southern with her bachelor's degree in Nursing and started working as a nurse in her hometown of Warner Robins at the Houston Medical Center. In 2017, she married former Furman football student-athlete Ryan Storms and the couple now live in Sharpsburg, Ga., where they both work at Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center.

We had the chance to sit down - virtually - with Bethany and chat about her journey to Georgia Southern, what it was like to be a Nursing student and a student-athlete at the same time as an Eagle, and then about her current life on the front lines daily dealing with the current COVID pandemic.

1. In high school, you were a team captain for your softball, basketball and soccer team as a senior. Why did you choose softball to play collegiately, which then led you to Georgia Southern?

Softball was my best sport. I played softball & basketball growing up, and loved them both. I just loved playing sports. My basketball coach was also the soccer coach. I tried soccer in middle school, but my coach put me on defense and said 'don't let the ball get past you, and kick it as hard as you can.'

I got to high school and I was in great shape because basketball season had just ended. So I said sure, I'll play soccer. I tried out, made varsity. One other girl made varsity, and she was an excellent player. I was just aggressive and pretty fast. But I played softball - travel ball - year round while I was playing basketball and soccer. So softball was just my favorite.

2. You were a nursing major at Georgia Southern. As a nursing major, the time demands of your class schedule vs. the practicing and playing softball schedule must have been difficult. How were you able to balance the two during your junior and senior years at Georgia Southern?

So that was pretty brutal. *laughs* I don't even know if they let students do that any more. I know in my nursing cohort I had a friend who played tennis, and another who ran track, and they ended up stopping playing sports. I'll tell you this - I didn't sleep much. Sometimes the most sleep I got was on the floor of the bus on the way to a tournament. Our workouts were at 5 a.m. Our clinicals were in Savannah. Normally we'd meet out by the Fairgrounds and we'd carpool down to Savannah. We'd be at the hospital at 6-6:15 a.m., which was normally when my team was working out. We would get off at 3 p.m., come straight from Savannah to practice, and then after practice I'd go to the RAC to make up my workouts. Somewhere in there I would study. *laughs* It was really tough, the schedule alone didn't allow for much. But luckily my roommate was also a nursing student so she kept me straight. By the grace of God, we got through that

3. In your senior bio, it said that people would be surprised to know that you're a twin. Did your twin sister go to Georgia Southern?

Yes! We both are True Blue - Jordan and me. Both my parents - Debbie and Lee Crenshaw - went to Georgia Southern, they graduated in 1979. And my mom was the homecoming queen! My brother went there too, We are an Eagle family! My sister is a teacher, she teaches preschool now. Georgia Southern had the nursing & education buildings side by side, they look a lot alike but are different. We would joke - hey, there's my building and that's your building!

4. Walk us through after graduation and where it's led you today.

After graduation, I took a little bit of time off.  After my junior year, I got involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I volunteered at the FCA camps every summer in St. Simons Island. There were high school camps where we were the camp counselors. And then the year we went to college camp, it was in Hannibal, Missouri. We all got in a car in Statesboro and drove all night to Missouri. We did the FCA College Conference out there. From then, my mission work went in a lot with nursing. Through FCA, I went to Kenya the year after I graduated. Went with Joey Potter, who works with FCA International Missions, and I've gone back every year since, since 2011. I've made about 10 trips. I lived in Kenya for a few months when I was 23 or 24. A friend of mine, who is a nurse as well, volunteered at a very rural hospital for three months.

I worked at my local hospital in Warner Robins for about five years, Houston Medical Center. I started on the general medical floor, all bare bones, where you learn everything about being a nurse. Then from there, I got married - one of those yucky Furman Paladins! *laughs* My husband, Ryan, was an offensive lineman at Furman. We don't hold that against him! We were huge rivals when we were there. My softball teammate at Southern, Amy Nagel, married a defensive lineman from Furman - and my husband and I met at their wedding. Two Eagles married to two Paladins! Ryan's also a nurse. We got married in 2017. He wasn't a nursing major at Furman, but he was a communications major, and he then went to LaGrange college and got a nursing degree.

So I worked about 5 years in Warner Robins, then moved to Sharpsburg. between Newnan and Peachtree City. I worked at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Newnan for three years. This past February, I started at ICU at Wellstar West Georgia in LaGrange, where my husband worked. He's in the emergency room, I'm in the ICU. We are in COVID-19 nation.

5. Obviously the pandemic is in the forefront of everybody's minds. Give us a glimpse into what the new normal of your daily life is since you're on the frontlines.

We've been isolating for sure. We don't go anywhere, we don't see anyone. Not that we're afraid of catching it, since we're exposed every day at work. But my last 4-6 weeks, we've had nothing but COVID patients. We stay at home to not expose anyone else. I have twin sister and she's pregnant - so of course we're not seeing her and that's the hardest not to see. My grandmother is 92 years old. I can't see my parents without risking her getting her sick. A lot of long walks.

So, daily life - I leave my house around 5:50 a.m., get to work, and we wear COVID scrubs - surgery scrubs like the cath lab wears. We change into them, and it's kinda like sports - show up, dress out, go through a grueling day, change back out, shower, get home. In the ICU, we have anywhere from 1-3 patients. It's been really tough. Even when you come home, you do bring it home with you, but you think about your patients a lot. Our off days, we can't get distracted by going to the gym or going shopping, so I think about my patients. That part gets tough. You can't see friends, can't be around your family. And that's one of the toughest things - people not taking this seriously.

6. Do you have any general words of advice to people struggling through this out there?

I think some things have been really good coming out of this. Families are spending more time with each other - although that's good for some, and not for others! *laughs* I know I've been more intentional about calling my family on the way home, and checking in on them. We think we're invincible - we're used to having a problem, getting it fixed. When I was dealing with health care in Kenya, they don't necessarily expect to beat something. They're not used to having all the technology we have here. Ethics here would revolve around how long do you keep someone alive. Even now with COVID, because there's so much unknown - when and if he makes it, what will his quality of life be? But in Kenya, it was if there's a strike, do you show up? Something I've really taken away is preservation. My first time in Kenya, they handed me a baby. That sacred me to death! A little five or six year old, carried his baby brother down the mountain, wrapped in blankets. The baby was super lethargic, with eyes not opening. I didn't know what to do. The village doctor came once a month, and as it turns out, he had a big burn on his arm. Blistered burn from cooking over open fire. So wound care, like in the states, you have supplies everywhere. Until this pandemic, nurses haven't had to think about preserving supplies. But now we've wearing same N-95 mask a week or two weeks at a time. Normally you throw them away every time you go into a room. Pandemic levels the playing field. So with that baby, we need to clean it. I went and got some alcohol to pour the bottle over the wound The nurse there said 'No' and filled a capful and only used that capful. It sounds so silly, but they had one bottle of alcohol to last months, if not years. For a school with 900 students, one bottle of alcohol. For PPE (personal protection equipment), we saw during Ebola outbreak, people putting on trashbags. That's crazy. But now look at us. We're doing whatever we can to take care of these patients.

As far as what to tell people - if we could all just have a taste of humility. Put yourself in the shoes of someone else, like people with small businesses. Working every day, I don't know what it's like not to have paycheck. I know people want to get out, people that are stir crazy, but they don't know what it's like to watch someone die. Most of your business world has never held their hand, talked to the family, and done everything they've can to keep someone alive. Overall if we, as people, would just love each other a little better, and be patient with one another. Be safe about it.

7. Do you have any final words for Eagle Nation?

Yes, I'm glad they don't play Furman anymore! *laughs* Eagle Nation ... that involves so many people - students now, alumni. I had a gentleman who was in his 80s and I mentioned I was an Eagle and he said "No way, me too!' His wife was the patient, but he went to Georgia Southern in the 50s. Eagle Nation is everywhere! But I would say, stay so safe. Love each other well. Keep praying. Be smart, be kind. We'll get through together!