Editor’s note: This is the first of three narrative reports in a series produced by Professor Kathy Roberts Forde’s Longform Narrative class in the Journalism Department at UMass. “The Great Experiment Continues” is a sequel to “The Great Experiment” series her class reported for the Gazette last spring when the pandemic was new. Now one year into the pandemic, Forde’s students document how UMass and its students, faculty and staff have tried to build social connections during a time that demands social distance, exploring what has been lost and gained along the way.