College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Maggie Ward, a senior political science major from Chicago, was the student speaker Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the University of Dayton’s 2019 academic convocation, welcoming first-year students and new faculty.

Ward was a co-captain of the University’s Mock Trial team and won an Outstanding Attorney Award with a perfect score during the American Mock Trial Association’s Opening Round Championship Series. She also is a member of the Student Government Association, a president’s emissary and a student ambassador for the Office of Admission. This summer, she interned in the office of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine through the Department of Political Science’s Statehouse Civic Scholars program.

Here is the text of her address:

Hi, Class of 2023. In a full disclosure mode, when the student speaker came onstage at my convocation, I was setting up my first ‘finsta.’ The girl sitting next to me was helping come up with my username. But something good did come from my lack of listening — the girl who was making my finsta, well, she's my roommate now.

So, if you stop listening it better be for a good reason, like finding a roommate for the next three years.

I am kidding. Anyway, I hope your first four days have gone well. I cannot lie, in some ways it's a grueling process.

When I came to the University of Dayton, my major was undecided. I did not know a single person at UD. No one from my high school had come here. I was frightened of gaining the ‘freshman 15.’

Today, I am passionate about what I study, I have met my best friends, I work and I have a house on Lowes.

So, in between my convocation, which I'll call point A, and today, which we will call point B, I have learned a few things and had a ton of fun along the way.

Right now, you are at the start, or the proverbial point A. It's a lot of firsts.

First move in day. First impressions. First day of classes.

Looking toward your first year of college can be daunting, and when I was in your shoes, I really did not know what my proverbial point B would look like, and sometimes I still don't, and it was nerve-racking. But it's also really exciting. And I will tell you why.

You are about to learn a lot in the next four years, on your way to point B.

You are about to learn more about your academic discipline than you could have ever imagined. I have learned more about America's political landscape than I ever thought was possible. I have met engineers who have helped with the laser technology on rollercoasters in Disney.

But getting to your own point B is not a straight and clear academic path because the learning that takes place at UD is not confined to St. Joe’s or Miriam Hall or Kettering labs. In fact, if you take anything away from my talk, it should be that the education that you will experience during your four years here is holistic — it does not begin and finish in the academic buildings. Some of your most important learning moments may happen on the porches of Lowes, or they may happen while you intern or co-op, or while you take the RecPlex fitness classes.

Basically, this education of the whole person thing is not a process that happens in one night, or even one year of school, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. So, lean into the whole learning experience. There will not be another time in your life that you live in a community of 8,200 students who are all seeking to discover their vocations, goals and passions — or their proverbial point B, as well.

So, Class of 2023, lean on each other, because you are all in this together. It is a community effort, if you will. In a few years, you will be in my shoes, at a point B, sort of, and you will be looking forward and planning out your points C and D and E and F, or you may not. And that is great, too. Because it's not really about being at point B, it's about the time you spend finding it. And no matter what your time here at UD looks like, that is something you will all have in common. You will all have had a journey where you learn about yourself.

So, I wish you the best of luck — appreciate it! I am excited to see all of the great things that your class accomplishes in your time here at UD. It will be great things; I am sure of it.

Thank you, and as always, go Flyers.