Hobart and William Smith Colleges

COMMENCEMENT 2026

Maeghan Mahoney ’26 
Senior Speech
May 17, 2026

Good morning everyone, and boy, what a good one it is. I want to begin by thanking everyone for being here today as we celebrate the end of our four years of community, family, and learning. Together, we have pushed each other to be better than we thought we could be.

However, I want to make a point that this is not the 'end' of learning-this is only the beginning of a lifelong commitment that we have already dedicated ourselves to.

The beauty of learning, the beauty of HWS, is that this knowledge and these relationships - this passion and eagerness to enrich ourselves with purpose and possibility - will extend beyond just the classrooms here at HWS. Your end here is really a beginning, one that I encourage you all to embark on with open minds, compassionate hearts, and a reminder of what these four years have enriched you with.

Now, I don't know exactly what the future holds for each and every one of us. But what I do know is that each and every one of us holds the seed to make a difference - to make change bloom and flourish. And it is that seed which I hope to call upon today, as you embark on your next journey.

There is a songwriter I keep coming back to, someone who spent a lifetime writing about exactly this moment - the moment when the world asks something of you, and you have to decide whether you're going to answer. I'd play it for you myself, but I left my harmonica at home. So instead, I'll just borrow a few words from Bob Dylan.

"Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
And you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
For the times, they are a-changin"'

Those words have stayed with me because they don't sugarcoat anything. The waters have grown. The world is asking something of us. And I believe - genuinely believe -that this class is full of people ready to answer.

Four years ago, we came to this place as individuals. We are leaving as something more than that - shaped by each other, by this community, by every experience that challenged us and every person who believed in us; the challenges we didn't ask for but grew from anyway - not

all of it was easy. But all of it mattered. That is where the seed took root.

And no, none of us have it all figured out. I certainly don't. But that has never been the point. The point is that we leave here with the curiosity to keep asking, the empathy to keep

listening, and the conviction that what we do next - however small it might feel - is part of something much bigger than ourselves.

HWS did not give us answers. It gave us something better - the ability to ask the right questions, and the courage to pursue them. So as you leave here today, do not take that gift and keep it to yourself. Use it. Build something. Contribute to something larger than your own ambitions. Let your knowledge be a bridge, your relationships be a foundation, and your compassion - the kind the world needs so much of right now be the thing that holds it all together. Because look around ... the times, they are a'changin.

Congratulations, Class of 2026. Now go be that change.