Editor’s note: This story is part of The Great Experiment, a series produced by Professor Kathy Roberts Forde’s Longform Narrative class in the Journalism Department at the UMass Amherst.
With mountains of powdery white snow underfoot and a starry night sky overhead, John-Paul McDonald, known to friends as JP, has found a new way to spend Friday nights.
JP, a graduate student studying accounting at UMass, had gone skiing only a few times before the pandemic sent everyone indoors last March. This winter it was his regular weekend outing with a small circle of friends, a replacement for pre-pandemic partying.
UMass has a reputation as a party school, but with strict COVID safety rules governing life now, students are finding alternative ways to socialize.
“Previous to the pandemic, we were spending money on weekends doing other things,” said JP. “Starting to ski was kind of just my way of finding time to do other things, and it was worth the money for sure.”
From early January to the end of February, JP visited area ski slopes more than a dozen times with a group of close friends. He’s journeyed to Vermont and New Hampshire, where a younger crowd shares the spacious, frozen slopes for nighttime skiing, opting for fresh air and winter sport over indoor gatherings. Easily accessible COVID testing at UMass made JP’s out-of-state skip trips possible without a 14-day quarantine.
For JP, skiing is also a way to strengthen the friendships he has developed at UMass. “This has really molded some great friendships . . . because we could bond over going skiing,” he said. Being on the slopes lets them “feel young” again.
JP isn’t the only student who ditched the crowded party scene for more intimate gatherings with friends.
Craig Murphy, a senior psychology major at UMass, kneads raw pizza dough using a dusting of flour on his L-shaped kitchen counter. Aromas of marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and breaded chicken fill the air as his made-from-scratch calzones bake in the oven.
This time last year, Craig might have hopped around the local bars or hung out with crowds of college-age strangers on a Friday night. Now, a close friend is the stand-in bartender, and Fleetwood Mac plays on a speaker as his small circle of friends catch up with each other.
“I literally keep the calzone recipe at the top of my notes at all times,” Craig said about his go-to dish. He’s open to exploring new recipes, but the fun is cooking from scratch.
What started as a quarantine activity to pass the time has turned into a new hobby to keep in touch with friends.
“Obviously, I hate COVID, hate not being able to go out and meet new people and stuff like that, but now I’m hanging out with people that I’m very close with and we get to enjoy that time,” Craig said. “That’s something that I would want even outside of the pandemic.”