After speaking to this old friend of mine, it’s easy to see that the most impactful experiences he had at RU were ones where he got to meet people: moments where he experienced genuine relationships with other people on campus, both professors and fellow students. As a senior myself this semester, it makes me wonder about the things that I will take away from my time here at Reinhardt, and so in turn I asked Smith about the things he carried with him after he graduated.
“The world isn’t a big scary place like peo-ple make it out to be, but it can be a little intimidating when you first go out on your own. Use the relationships built at school, make connections, use all your resources to shrink the world back to manageable size. People are the biggest asset you can gain from a school like Reinhardt. Lessons can be learned in the classroom, but even more can be learned with the people you surround yourself with. People are what I gained from RU.”
Over the course of our friendship, Chris
As I took a walk down memory lane with Smith, we got to talk more about how Reinhardt left a long-lasting mark on his life.
“Michelle Harlow is the most influential professor I’ve ever had,” Smith said when I asked him about the people he met at Reinhardt. “What made or makes her great is her ability to connect with her students. I never felt judged or inadequate.”
What Smith appreciated most about Harlow was how she was always willing to help, no matter what was needed or when it was needed, and how she always believed in him. “Dr. Harlow was and is a friend. She deserves a lifetime of thank-you’s from me. I would not have graduated without Dr. Harlow; that is a simple fact.”
While Harlow may have contributed to his time here at RU, it was shocking to hear about the kind of mark Smith left behind from one of his old teammates, who is a senior at Reinhardt this year himself. Luke Cathcart, pitcher for the RU baseball team, spoke of Smith fondly: “When I played with Chunk, it was like he was another coach on the field. Chunk had so much knowledge of the game…. He wasn't very vocal; he just let his playing do the talking for him.”
“If it wasn't for Chunk,” Cathcart attests, “then I would have never had the opportunity to go to Reinhardt in the first place. Me and Chunk would throw just about every day at our high school field the summer before my freshman year of college. Finally, he called our head coach at the time and told him to give me a chance to play…. And the rest is history! Ultimately, if it wasn't for Chunk Smith, then I would have never stepped foot on this campus.”
Baseball always played a very important role in Chunk's life.
"He wasn't very
vocal; he just let his playing do the talking for him.”
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