Senior Spotlight: Owen Hobbs `22

Over a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats — doused in whole milk, of course — Owen Hobbs `22 sat down with The Colby Echo to discuss his time at the College, his goals for the present, and his plans for the future.

After Hobbs made the Men’s Lacrosse Team as a walk-on his first year, athletics became an important part of his college experience. 

“I wouldn’t still be at Colby if I wasn’t playing lacrosse,” he said.

Hailing from the Bay Area, Hobbs was accustomed to temperate California weather. During his first year, the harshness of Maine’s winter surprised him. He questioned why he had come to the College in the first place.

“Central Maine in December and January is just awful,” Hobbs said. “It’s zero degrees. It snows every day. It gets dark before 4 o’clock.”

After braving the freezing winter, Hobbs welcomed the warmth of spring and, with it, his first college lacrosse season.

“The lacrosse season in the spring was awesome,” he said. “Some of my best friends are on the lacrosse team, and it’s what has kept me here to this day.”

Some of Hobbs’ best college memories pertain to lacrosse. Following the near-complete loss of his sophomore season because of the move to remote learning due to COVID-19 in March 2020, Hobbs was thankful for an opportunity to play this past spring. 

“We weren’t sure if we were going to have a season at all,” he said. “Our previous season was canceled only three games in, and those seniors, who were awesome by the way, lost their whole season, and we were all worried that was going to happen to the class of 2021 as well.”

With Hobbs’ contribution, the Men’s Lacrosse Team beat Bates for the first time in seven years and finished the season with a 3–1 record. Hobbs called this season one of his best experiences at the College.

“The best part was our senior day, which was the first in two years. It was a home game against Connecticut College. It was the first game [after] people were getting vaccinated, so the school started allowing fans to come to our games. We must’ve gotten three or four hundred fans at that game,” he said.

Colby Men’s Lacrosse came away with a 20-17 victory over Connecticut College, one of its highest-scoring games ever.

“It was just awesome. It was the coolest lacrosse game I’ve ever been a part of,” Hobbs remembered.

Hobbs is also a dedicated student. He majors in history and is working on a senior thesis.

“I really want to do a lot of work on my thesis and crush it. Maybe set myself up for graduate school,” he said.

Hobbs’s research focuses on the rise and spread of nationalism, particularly in former European colonies and countries of the non-alignment movement.

“I’m starting off by looking at a brief history of European nationalism. And then I’m looking at how it spread from Europe to the ‘third world’ and European colonies,” he explained. “I’m really interested in how those ideas of nationalism fostered unique ideas of nationalism in each country.”

Hobbs’s thesis will concentrate on the leaders of these nations. 

“I’m looking at three decolonial, nonaligned, nationalist leaders from the early to mid-twentieth century, specifically Ho Chi Minh from Vietnam, Josip Tito from Yugoslavia, and Mustafa Atatürk from Turkey,” he said. “All three are total cult of personality, charismatic-type leaders of roughly the same time period.”

Reflecting on his time at the College, Hobbs believes that he has learned a lot from his academic and athletic experiences. His social life, however, has impacted him the most. Hobbs’s favorite thing about the College is the people. 

“I probably know more than half of my grade. It makes it feel like you belong here. That’s pretty special among colleges,” he said.

On any given weeknight, Hobbs likes how he can walk into Miller Library and find a friend or two. 

“That’s pretty unheard of at other schools,” he noted.

Hobbs is excited for his final lacrosse season, senior week, and the memories that will follow them.

“I want a last dance with my class,” he said.

For first-years, Hobbs recommends trying as many new activities as possible. He says it could change their entire college experience. 

“I learned more about myself at Colby than I thought that I would. Put yourself out there. If you see something cool, go do it. Do whatever you want. Join a club, walk onto a team. Don’t be scared to try something. It’s kinda generic advice, but it’s really true,” Hobbs said.

~ Matt Rocha `23