The Best Speech I Didn't Give
Sharing Words So Good, I had to Pass the Mic
Last week, I wrote about my daughter Erin’s graduation from Fairfield University. In that post, I mentioned how the student commencement speaker, Zachary Maloy, delivered one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard.
After he finished, I turned to Coleen and said, “That was very MARK. Set. Go...ish!”
His message was that good—smart, humble, funny, inspiring. The kind of speech you wish you’d given… or at the very least, saved for later.
So that’s exactly what I did.
With Zach’s permission, I’m sharing his entire speech here. But before I do, let me share a few of my favorite lines:
“People are the education. Impact is the legacy.”
“College is the four years that teach you how to live the best years of your life.”“At the end of the day, you can teach someone how to write a business plan. But you can’t teach them how to authentically connect with people and build genuine relationships. That’s something you live your way into.”
“As we go into the world, remember this: your legacy will never be your title. Rather, it’ll be your impact on the people around you.”
Those are MARK. Set. Go... values through and through: presence over perfection, connection over credentials, legacy through love and service.
Zach reminded all of us that it’s not just about what you accomplish. It’s about how you accomplish it, who you become, and how others feel because of you.
I hope you take away as much as I did from his remarks. And the next time you hear something extraordinary—share it. In spotlighting someone else’s excellence, we remind ourselves what’s possible with the right mindset, the right values, and the right kind of heart.
Thank you, Zach, for the reminder. Keep leading with humility and boldness. The world needs more of both.
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Zachary Maloy is an investment banking analyst at Ziegler specializing in healthcare M&A. He graduated from Fairfield University in 2025 with a 4.0 GPA, majoring in finance and business analytics, and served as captain of the D1 Golf Team.
Connect with him here: linkedin.com/in/zachary-maloy
See you next week.