What would you say to your younger self if you were able to sit down and chat with them?
I’m sure we’ve all thought about that at some point. But students at the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee actually got to live it recently. The boarding and day school which specializes in “exceptional education” for “boys in grades 6-12” put together a video that quite literally took years of planning.
When some students came to McCallie as sixth graders, they sat them down and had them ask their older selves – specifically when they’d be seniors – questions to see how much they’ve changed over the years. Once they had those videos in the bag, they just had to wait over half a decade to film the second portion of the interview. When the boys that were sixth graders became seniors, they then fired back up the clips of themselves so that they could answer the questions they asked themselves.
It made for one heartfelt, emotional video.
There was one moment that really stood out to me where the young Will asked the old Will what life advice he would have offered up to his sixth grade self. The McCallie senior answered, “Be kind to everyone,” and you could tell that he was chocked up a bit answering in that way. Like many people have reacted on the internet, I don’t even know these graduating high schoolers, yet the video they were able to produce still felt very personal.
The premise the McCallie set out to fulfill was simple, but it was certainly very effective:
What a rollercoaster.
I think the video has gotten so much attention because everyone, at some point in their life, can relate to time passing by. You could clearly see that some of the seniors were emotional answering some of the questions that their younger self posed. And I can’t even begin to imagine how the tears were flowing when their parents cued this up and watched it.
The clip has now been viewed over a half-a-million times, and social media can’t get over how profound the self-interview video came out:
“Best marketing I’ve ever seen… except the Clydesdales.”
“I don’t know a one of them but, here I am with tears in my eyes! The transformation of them all growing into young men.”
“What an incredible group of boys and young men that I don’t even know!! Well done.”
“These aren’t even my kids and I’m teary! This is so cute.”
“I cried and I don’t even know these guys! Congratulations to you all!”
Good stuff.
The post Tennessee Graduation Video Goes Viral When Seniors Are Asked Questions From Their Younger, 6th Grade Selves first appeared on Whiskey Riff.