I came to college in September of 2021 as an aimless, blissfully ignorant 18-year-old, excited for my first taste of independence and adulthood. I found that joy for weeks and months, meeting what felt like a hundred new people every night in the southwest residential area, going to parties and “expanding my horizons.”
As I reached my second semester, freshman friend groups dwindled and classes got harder, and all the while, I struggled to find my place on campus. I had tried out for the club baseball team (cut), explored potentially joining a frat (wasn’t for me) and dabbled in a few other clubs (didn’t stick).
I always knew two things about myself: I loved sports, and the only subject in school that I was ever halfway decent at was writing. So, as I came back to school for my sophomore year, I made my way down to room 210 in the Student Union for a Collegian All-Staff meeting, with the goal of finding my place at UMass with people who had similar interests.
I was immediately embraced by the lovingly chaotic energy of the Collegian office. I met a bunch of new people immediately; but instead of the mind-numbing conversations I had with literally hundreds of people as a freshman (Where are you from? What’s your major? Where do you live on campus? — Give me a break), I was asked what sports I was interested in, if I had any writing experience and what I wanted to get involved with in the Collegian. These wonderful people welcomed me and a dozen other students with open arms into the community that has defined my college career.
As the school year began, I talked with the uber-talented sports editor at the time, Lulu Kesin, about how I could get involved. Being the hockey enthusiast I was, I jumped on the first opportunity that presented itself, covering the club hockey team. It was nowhere near the most coveted beat within the Collegian — at the time, it was probably the farthest from it.
My first story was a season preview, so I ventured down to the Mullins Center practice facility to interview the three captains of the club hockey team. As soon as it ended, I ventured right back up to the Student Union to write.
And boy was that story rough; well, at least in retrospect. I was thrilled to see it posted on the website the next day though, and from that moment on, I knew that the Collegian was going to become a big part of my life.
I didn’t know how big, though, until a few weeks later, after I had written a few club hockey stories, Lulu sent an email out to the section saying that a spot had opened up on the DI hockey beat. I remember that moment vividly, sitting in my mom’s car on the way back to Amherst after a long weekend. I immediately texted Lulu that I was interested.
My commitment through the first month covering club hockey won me the spot, and I was introduced to the wild ride that is covering the UMass hockey team.
That quick response to an email quite literally changed my life. All of a sudden, every Friday and Saturday night, I was posted up in the Mullins Center press row or on a drive to some corner of New England with Colin McCarthy and Kayla Gregoire. The two quickly became some of my closest friends and biggest mentors in the world of journalism.
Being a member of the hockey beat meant interviewing one of the most respected, yet daunting figures in the college hockey world: Greg Carvel. I’ll always remember the first time I asked him a question in a press conference after UMass swept Denver to begin the 2022-23 season. What I asked him, I have no clue; I pretty much blacked out. But I got a good response, and after that, he didn’t seem so daunting after all. That is, as long as you asked a good question (for any future members of the hockey beat who may read this: NEVER ASK CARVEL WHO THE STARTING GOALIE WILL BE!!!).
The hockey beat brought me across the country: Las Vegas, Fargo, Lake Placid and nearly every college hockey rink in New England. Traveling to these places with Colin and Kayla, as well as Sydney Ciano, has given me some of my best memories in college, and for that, I will always be grateful.
As much as I’ll remember the great places I got to travel to as a beat writer, I will forever appreciate the days I spent hours upon hours in the Collegian office with anyone who happened to be there. There hasn’t been a single person in my three years with the Collegian that I’ve met within that quaint office who wasn’t hugely passionate about their work, committed to being the best journalist they could be and most importantly, emphatically kind about welcoming anyone into the community who walked through the door.
The Collegian gave me my first sense of community and belonging as a UMass student and introduced me to friends that will be a part of my life forever.
I don’t know that I’ll have too many memories from journalism classes when I look back on my college career in 10, 20 or 30 years, but here are some things I will remember about the beginning of my career as a journalist:
Monday night meetings with the sports section, and the silly icebreakers that came with it.
Car rides with Colin, Kayla and Sydney singing Disney music and bashing my music taste (EDM and Country are superior, but I digress).
Movie nights at Johnny Depin’s house with Kayla, Sydney, Mike Maynard and Rachel Toth.
Formals at Monkey Bar that sometimes ended with people playing beach volleyball in Southwest 😉
And finally, I’ll remember that my journalism journey started based on one decision to attend a meeting, and it changed my life. Now I know that all it takes to find that next opportunity is to just keep opening doors, and maybe one of them will lead me down a similar path.
Matt Skillings was an Assistant Sports Editor. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @matt_skillings.
