Harrison Stuart, president of McCallie School's senior leadership organization Keo Kio, speaks at the baccalaureate ceremony that opened the school year on Aug. 21, 2018.This fall, 18-year-old Harrison Stuart will attend Vanderbilt University, where he hopes to either study economics or enter a pre-medicine track. But before he leaves, the McCallie School's co-valedictorian will have completed an ambitious mission: Delivering roughly 115 letters of gratitude to his fellow students, teachers and anyone else who helped him on his path through high school and onto college.
Stuart, of San Antonio, Texas, said he fell in love with McCallie after attending the school's CLC (Character, Leadership, Community) Camp the summer before eighth grade.
"During those two weeks of camp, I fell in love with McCallie and its culture, and I knew that it was where I needed to be," he said.
He said he developed the idea of thank-you notes in the fall of 2018 as he began to reflect on his experience at McCallie, what defined it, and what, if anything, was missing.
"I came to understand that the predominant sentiment encapsulating my time here on the Ridge is simple: an overwhelming, all encompassing and abiding gratitude," Stuart wrote in his commencement address.
And so - the letters.
After returning from Thanksgiving break, Stuart devised his "thank-you note list." He walked around his campus, mentally cataloguing the friends, administrators, secretaries and coaches - even the employees at the Brainerd Village Chik-fil-A, a stomping ground for Stuart and his friends. He wanted to show appreciation for those who taught him where true masculinity lies, or for those who took the time to talk about the emotional power of one of his passions, musical theater.
Come spring, Stuart began to write. At first he maintained a letter-a-day habit. The whole correspondence came naturally since his parents regularly encouraged handwritten notes in the wake of major holidays. Though Stuart once dreaded that activity, he quickly viewed the notes as a vehicle for his gratitude.
Most of the time he received a thank-you in return, or a handshake. One time, an administrator mistook him as for a graduate already. Ultimately, though each note was personalized, Stuart began with the same line: "As my years on the Ridge draw to a close, I'm daily thanking the people who have made my four years in Chattanooga the best of my life."
Contact Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.