Earlier today [last week], as I was driving back to State College from spending Easter weekend at my grandma’s house and listening to “Hamilton”, the song “One Last Time” came on. For those unfamiliar with “Hamilton”, “One Last Time” is about George Washington telling Alexander Hamilton that he will be stepping down and not running for another term as president, explaining his reasoning, and composing a message to the people.
I found myself singing along as I have many times before, but it felt more personal today than it has in the past. At one point in the song, Washington says “I wanna sit under my own vine and fig tree / A moment alone in the shade / At home in this nation we’ve made / One last time.” In a way, that’s what the end of senior year is—a chance to sit in the beautiful State College springtime, knowing that the work you have put into classes and organizations over the course of four years paid off, and to just enjoy life. While I still have work to do right now and am not quite at the stage where I can sit all day without accomplishing anything, I know that in 2 weeks I will be pretty close, and I am excited to have that carefree time in State College. I know where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing next year (really, for the next 5+ years), I am satisfied with my academic accomplishments at Penn State, and I know that I left my organization in good hands. It’s time to enjoy some last times.
Speaking of leaving my organization in good hands, that’s actually the theme of this song that has always stuck out to me the most. In the same verse as the previous quote, Hamilton says “If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on / it outlives me when I’m gone.” In a musical that also has lines such as “Legacy…What is a legacy? / It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see”, I think that Washington’s thoughts on legacy are the most powerful. I personally believe that a huge part of leadership is leading by example and showing people what should be done and how they should be acting moving forward—your legacy is in the people who follow you and what they have learned from you, not in the changes you leave behind.
As I look back I’m not sure what my legacy will be in 1, 3, 5, 10 years, and that’s okay. My experiences have shown me that in some ways, your legacy is shaped by what happens in the years after you leave—how do the people who learned from you act, and what aspect of your experience becomes most relevant and helpful to future leaders? I am comforted by the ways that my successors have reached out to ask for my opinion and hear about some of my experiences but are ultimately willing to do things differently than the way I did. Perhaps even more, I’m comforted by the fact that they don’t need my opinions, approval, or work, but are still doing a good job (granted, it’s only 2.5 weeks in). I think it’s important for leaders to take ownership of their responsibilities and projects, but continuity from year to year is what keeps organizations cohesive amidst changing leadership and membership (and it is a way of showing me what my legacy is, which while not necessary does make me feel good).
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