My daughter’s name, Alaina, means “bright shining light.” It fits her.
Consequently, when she was little, I spent my time at many church music shows. As she grew, she went from being on the floor in front to being further back, and finally on the last row on the riser.
I could celebrate the journey, but I also cried as I thought about her aging out. The last row is a sign of growth and of impending transition.
From Start to Finish
A similar progression has happened with the thousands of students I’ve taught over the years. I’ve served as an instructor for a large-enrollment introduction to our major and as department chair that oversees our graduation ceremonies. I see them on the front row and the last. Transitions.
And now, as I get ready to hand off a course I’ve taught for 25 years to a new hire, and begin to close out my nearly 20-year run as department chair, I too must think about transitions and the back row that I’ll be standing on. How can I lead gracefully from the back without standing in the way of change, and the vision of the new chair, and new hires, and AI, and, and, and.
Embracing the Back Row
I think it is hard for many academics, myself included, to embrace the back row since our career choice often works its way into our identity. Our purpose and provision overlap. We often call such occurrences a “calling.” I certainly feel that way. As a student, college changed me. I hope I have taught in ways that promoted similar transformations in my students.
Yet, if I’m honest, my “back row” status is both a challenge and a lesson in humility.
The Inevitability of Change
I think about similar transitions in the Bible: John the Baptist to Jesus, Moses to Joshua, and Paul’s counsel of Timothy and others. I am not claiming their status or significance. But I’m learning to rest in the inevitability of changes: in the academy, in church, in volunteer organizations, in family structures.
Stewardship focuses on care, not control. To ground my identity in Christ frees me up to embrace change—even when that means my sphere of influence may lessen.
Consider How to Decrease
It is hard for me to fully embrace my back row status. To sing robustly while attention is now (rightly) on a new generation. But I have some closing thoughts.
If you are on the back row with me, admit it. Pray, reflect, and engage in the inevitable with grace for yourself and others— consider how might you decrease so others might increase in ways that honor God.
Nudges Are Meant to be Helpful
If you are not on the back row, understand that we who are occasionally wrestle with our legacy and may not always get it right as we try to “pass on” wisdom, yet leave room for change.
If you’re new to the academy, understand our nudges to “look forward, get the arm gestures right, smile, and exit stage left, not right,” are meant to be helpful, not critical. And get ready to step back a row—it will be your time before you know it!
