COVID-19 gave many University of Idaho students a really long, stressful spring break spanning from mid-March to mid-August. Students left campus and were met with quarantine, strange living situations, unemployment, scrambled online classes and a lot of uncertainty about the future.
Makena Douglas, like so many students trapped between home and campus, found herself with a lot of time on her hands.
“At first, I had a lot of extra time that I didn’t know what to do with, and it was kind of just me and my parents,” Douglas said. “I had to find way to get away from them for a little while and do my own thing — to be independent.”
That’s when she took up embroidery — the art of weaving creative designs into fabric using a needle.
“I saw it on Pinterest, and I felt inspired,” Douglas said. “At the time, I was unemployed, and I needed something to do. I know how to sew, so I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to start this project.’ Then I just went for it.”
Despite the uncertainty the pandemic has caused for many people over the past six months, it’s created an unprecedented amount of free time for many as well. Some people, like Douglas, are taking advantage of this time by picking up new hobbies or rekindling forgotten passions.
It takes a long time, but I’m proud of the final product,” Douglas said. “I like it because there are so many different things that you can do with it. It’s very relaxing too — it’s my alone time.”
Alone time was something Douglas came to appreciate over the course of her time home, and embroidering helped her enjoy it.
“(Embroidering has) definitely shown me the importance of alone time,” Douglas said. “I feel like I’m very dependent on social interaction and being around people, but I’ve noticed that it’s nice to just be on my own for part of the day and have that time to myself.”
For UI student Kelsey Starman, on the other hand, having so much time to herself was a much bigger adjustment.
For Starman, being sent home in March was hard because UI was just beginning to feel like home.
“Second semester, I was just starting to get in my groove, and then the coronavirus hit,” Starman said. “I just cried a lot.”
Despite the difficult adjustment of being back home, Starman rediscovered a lost love — crocheting.
“My aunt taught me when I was 10, so I learned the basics then,” Starman said. “I didn’t do it for years, and then I was sitting at home during quarantine, bored out of my mind, and I had a big bucket of yarn in my closet. I was like, ‘I can do something with this.’”
From that moment forward, Starman began crocheting frequently, weaving two tank tops, a bucket hat and a large orange cardigan — her first big project. She is currently in the middle of making a big, thick sweater in preparation for the cold winter months.
While finishing multiple projects was rewarding for Starman, the process of crocheting itself is something she feels has benefited her on a deeper level.
“It taught me to be patient,” Starman said. “I get really antsy, but you can only crochet so fast. You have to be patient and trust the process and enjoy it too.”
While some students, like Douglas and Starman, found solace in activities that challenged the mind, other students took up activities that challenged the body.
Terron Tvrdy, another UI student, used to take frequent backpacking trips with his parents when he was younger. As he got older, his family had less time, so they stopped backpacking as often as they used to.
After the pandemic hit, Tvrdy rediscovered the sport when a friend stepped into the picture.
“Just this last summer, my buddy Lars asked me if I wanted to go backpacking and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do this, not just say we’re going to do it and then actually not end up doing it,’” Tvrdy said. “We went to this lake that I’d been to before with my parents, it’s called Two Mouths Lake.”
Tvrdy was reminded of how much he enjoyed being out in the wilderness, and started planning his next excursion right away. Over the course of the summer he went on several other trips around North Idaho, and he doesn’t feel like slowing down anytime soon.
“It’s my new passion,” Tvrdy said. “I’m going to go backpacking every opportunity that I get. Never say no to a backpacking trip — that’s my New Year’s resolution.”
After being so immersed in the outdoors over the summer, Tvrdy believes it’s imperative others get outside more as well.
“It’s so easy to get caught up in your phone or watching Netflix or whatever, and there’s a whole other world out there that people are just missing out on,” Tvrdy said. “You have to make a conscious effort to get out there and have a good time.”
Backpacking and being outdoors has also taught Tvrdy that it’s OK to take a step back, especially during stressful and often overwhelming times like these.
“If you read about the pandemic every day, and you hear about it every day and it’s all that’s ever going on in your life — yeah, that’s going to make you anxious,” Tvrdy said. “If you give yourself some time to get away from it all, it’s healthy — it’s a cleanse.”
Story By Abby Fackler
Photos By Abby Fackler & Courtesy
Design By Danielle Hawkins