Military Spouse Prepares for Lifetime of Teaching Language with Online Degree

For Kelly Brown, earning a master's degree from the University of Arkansas is all about expanding the ways she can help students learn—wherever in the United States she might reside.

As a military spouse, Brown moves wherever her husband's assignment takes them. She currently lives in Hawaii, where she teaches Spanish to K-6 grade students at an elementary school on the base. She graduated with an M.Ed. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages online degree through the University of Arkansas in May 2026.

"I'm an elementary Spanish teacher in Hawaii, but I eventually want to teach ESL [English as a second language], and I just want to have some more options as we move," Brown, 23, said. "I chose the University of Arkansas program because it allowed me to earn a graduate degree and teaching licensure entirely online. Getting this degree will allow me to teach both Spanish and English wherever I go."

 

Teaching Wherever Military Life Leads

Living and moving at the whim of the military has its ups and downs, Brown admitted, but her family makes it work. When her husband received orders to arrive at his new duty station in Hawaii effective October 2025, Brown traveled there months earlier, in July, to fill a teaching position at the military base.

"My husband's in the military, so I'm a military spouse," Brown said. "The opportunities are great, but the moving around, not so much. Studying online at the U of A proved to be a blessing. I could move without having to worry about school or classes."

For Brown, being fluent in both English and Spanish gives her the opportunity to teach wherever opportunities arise. Enrolling in the online master's program improved her skills and provided real-time teaching experience. The fully online graduate program allows students like Brown to earn a master's degree from the University of Arkansas while continuing their careers and balancing family responsibilities.

Brown said that flexibility made the program an ideal fit.

 

Finding A Program Designed for Working Teachers

"When I was looking at programs, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do ESL," she recalled. "I thought I could maybe do speech pathology. And then finally I was like, 'No, I know I want ESL next.' That's always something I wanted to teach."

Originally from Bentonville, Brown graduated from Bentonville High School before earning a bachelor's degree in Spanish and linguistics from the University of Oklahoma. As she began her teaching career, she realized she wanted to broaden her credentials and eventually teach English learners, Brown said.

"I was looking at programs and, honestly, if I'm going to do anything, I'm going to do it in Arkansas," she said. "It happened to be the perfect online program at the perfect time."

The University of Arkansas program stood out for Brown because it can meet the educational requirements for an Arkansas Ancillary License (for qualified professionals to provide specialized services) in Arkansas as well as a graduate degree.

According to the federal Military Spouse Licensing Relief Act of 2021, the law "provides for the portability of professional licenses of service members and their spouses who are relocated, because of military orders, outside of the jurisdiction that issued the license." In other words, military spouses could acquire teaching credentials in one state, then apply that same degree and certification in other states when military posts change.

"Since I'm a military spouse, I can use reciprocity to apply that license in any state we go to," she said. "Honestly, it was a really good work balance."

 

Applying Coursework in the Classroom

She also discovered that what she learned in the program immediately improved her teaching. She credits her experience as an online graduate student with strengthening her skills as an educator.

"There's so much of the research and readings and assignments we've done that have been applicable to teaching now," Brown said. "It's already changed some things that I do in my classroom or ways I see students. I feel like it's already making me a better teacher. The cohort is small, so I've had the same group of people in most of my classes. It's also cool to see that we all will be, are currently, or are planning to teach something related to ESL. We share those experiences. It's a nice way to connect to the community I've grown up in versus going anywhere else. I don't think I'd have the same experience."

Brown is particularly grateful to have instructors who teach the same things she has taught in the past as well as what she is teaching right now, who willingly serve as role models and provide unconditional support. She found strong mentorship from several faculty, most especially from Alissa Blair, an assistant professor in curriculum and instruction in the College of Education and Health Professions.

"She definitely goes out of our way to reach out and help students in the program," Brown said. "She has taught at least one or two of my classes each semester, and I have loved learning from her more. She has a background in ESL—you can tell that she really knows what she's talking about. She's allowed me to pivot into what I'm teaching currently, which is Spanish—I've applied some of the assignments to my Spanish learners. I went to her to ask for licensure help and she immediately connected me to the right people. She was more than willing to write recommendations for military scholarships and things like that."

Brown mentioned several financial benefits to studying online at the U of A, among them the in-state tuition regardless of home location, as well as potential military scholarships.

Overall, Brown said she has enjoyed her time with the program, having learned much from both her instructors and her peers.

"I'm kind of sad that it's already over," she admitted. "Part of me wishes I took a little longer, then I'm like, 'Wait, it's done!' It's already making me a better teacher, just in the way I interact with my students. Even though I'm not teaching ESL at the moment, I've changed things I do with my students because of what I learned in my coursework. It's all second language acquisition one way or another."

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