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grass sion Turf ech n te x E d n T ra s, Virginia ., Professo Jr., Ph.D vironmental Science y e tl a o el G il En By Micha ept. of Crop and So D , st li Specia
It
was my privilege in 2012 to address two professional audiences in locations and settings that mean a great deal to me based on how my career as a university faculty member developed. In late May, I visited with the Alabama Golf Course Superintendents Association chapter at a meeting in Tuscaloosa where Gib Fox, the director of golf at Ole Colony Golf Course, was one of my Mississippi State students. I saw many of my former advisees in Tuscaloosa, and most university faculty members will tell you that one of the most rewarding aspects of being a university faculty member who works one on one with young people is having the opportunity to watch their growth, both professionally and personally. Then, in early June, I returned to my hometown of Springfield, Kentucky, to address the Kentucky Sports Turf Managers Association chapter. The KSTMA executive secretary is now Dr. A.J. Powell Jr. (my advisor and mentor at the University of Kentucky), and their current president is Marcus Dean (sports turf supervisor at UK and, like me, a graduate of Washington County High School). Neither of these venues will mean that much on my annual evaluation, but they were very important
for me, as they allowed me to say thanks, renew old acquaintances, make some new friends and, I hope, inspire another WCHS graduate to enter the world of turfgrass management. Plus, my dad (Mike Goatley Sr.) got to be in the audience in Kentucky and see first hand a little bit of what it is that I do in my job as an Extension turfgrass specialist at Virginia Tech. What made these talks a little different from others is that each had significant components of my “words of wisdom” outside the realm of turf (as I seem more prone to do, the older I get… my kids tell me this carries over into my parenting techniques, as well). For the KSTMA chapter meeting, my topic was entirely dedicated to professionalism. This is certainly not a typical subject for an agronomist, but it is one that I decided to tackle as an “I can do this” presentation. My wife, Lisa, is a licensed professional counselor, and she gives these types of talks all the time. She had a worksheet on professionalism already developed, but she encouraged me to ponder my own concepts of professionalism in our industry before reviewing her materials (her list is presented as the last part of this article). Journal of the Virginia Turfgrass Council
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