Courtesy of Dr. Devon Carroll
Dr. Devon Carroll had a powerful message for graduates at the recent University of Tennessee hooding ceremony: break down your big dreams into smaller dreams that can be pursued and achieved “One bite at a time.”
Carroll was chosen by the dean of the graduate school, Dr. Dixie L. Thompson, at the conclusion of a process in which each department of individual schools within the university put forward the name of a student to be considered for the honor. Carroll received the invitation to speak in mid-March and spent the intervening two months considering the points she wanted to make in her five-minute address.
“I’ve given a lot of talks,” she says, “but this was probably the most difficult one I’ve ever had to prepare. It’s difficult to be personable and inspiring without being cheesy in five minutes, so definitely it was a lot of trial and error, and kind of revisiting the message and tweaking it over time to be sure that I had it just the right way.”
Carroll’s audience at Thompson-Boling Arena included 750 students — the largest class in the history of the university’s graduate school — along with 250 faculty members and around 3,000 friends and family members of the graduates. Another 3,000 viewed the ceremony virtually.
“Achieving a graduate degree is something really difficult,” she says. “I just wanted to remind our graduates that they’ve already achieved a massive accomplishment, and that in the future they have the skills and hopefully the confidence to continue pursuing other big goals.
“The theme of my talk was the quote, ‘The way to eat an elephant is a bite at a time,’ and reminding the graduates that taking small bites and breaking goals down as small goals to meet bite by bite turns into big achievements over time.”
Carroll encouraged graduates seated in front of her to be open about their personal and professional goals.
“I challenge you to verbally share your bites [from the elephant],” she said during the speech. “Vocalize your goals, big and small. Tell your boss, a colleague, or a friend what your next step is and when you think you will take it. I found that these small, self-imposed deadlines have kept me accountable in taking the next bite of my elephant and making my goals more manageable.”
The graduates included Carroll, who received her Ph.D. in plant, soil and environmental sciences with a concentration in weed science from the Herbert College of Agriculture. She successfully defended her degree this past March and has accepted a position with Bayer.
Calling Carroll’s academic record “distinguished” is an understatement. It includes a bachelor’s degree in turfgrass science from Penn State, which she earned in just 2½ years, a master’s degree in agronomy from Penn State, and a second master’s degree in agricultural leadership from Tennessee with a focus on opportunities for women in the turf industry.
Carroll, who was a guest on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast last year, is a staunch advocate for women in the industry.
“’The sky’s-the-limit-type messaging is really important,” says Carroll, whose academic influences include Tennessee’s Dr. Jim Brosnan and Penn State’s Dr. John Kaminski. “One of the things I wholeheartedly believe in is that we’re all capable of a lot more than we think we are. Sometimes you just need a nudge to get there and that’s really what I wanted to communicate.
“Looking back, I always had Dr. Brosnan and Dr. Kaminski giving me that piece of advice. Certainly, that turned out well for me, so it’s really exciting to be able to pass that on and hopefully inspire some of my colleagues and classmates to continue their successes.”
Rick Woelfel is a Philadelphia-based writer and frequent Golf Course Industry contributor.