Senior Commencement Speaker

The Commencement Speaker Medal is presented to a student who represents the character of the graduating class and will give an inspirational and engaging speech that represents the college’s values and learning outcomes.

Matthew Nosal ’17

Matthew Nosal, an English and creative writing double major from Manchester, N.H, is passionate about all forms of human expression and has shared his talents in almost every area of student life.

Matthew was vice president of Vocally Charged A Capella, president of Word Order and secretary of Philosophy Club. He was a member of Improv Anonymous and participated in several SNAFU theater festivals as a writer, director and actor.

Matthew competed with the men’s cross country team all four years and with the men’s track and field team for two. He was twice named to the NAC All-Academic Team, and he helped lead the Chargers to the 2016 NAC Cross Country Championship where they took home the program’s first conference title.

Matthew possesses a strong command of language and is skilled at writing in a variety of contexts. “He excels in the art of synthesizing his thinking in essays, poetry and prose, and he speaks with confidence and highly entertaining and engaging ways,” said a faculty member who nominated him to be the Senior Commencement Speaker.

In addition to producing quality academic pieces, Matthew has shared his voice as an intern and student employee in the Office of College Communications where he contributed content to the Colby-Sawyer website and magazine. As an intern in the Fine and Performing Arts Department, he worked on the catalog for the upcoming exhibition Inner Visions: Selections from the Collection of Beverly Stearns Bernson ’55. He has also published poetry and other creative work in literary magazines such as Spy Kids Review, MICRO//MACRO and The Collagist.

“Matthew has emerged at Colby-Sawyer as an outgoing, bright student dedicated to this college’s daily life in and out of the classroom, and completely convinced of this college’s effect on his life,” said one of his professors.

Matthew’s English Capstone is a groundbreaking analysis of the grammar and rhetorical style of tweets and the effects Twitter has on American culture. His creative writing Capstone explores the intersection of visual art and poetry in the digital age.