• 2025 Razorbug Diploma Tour •

Changing Lanes: Morrilton Woman Finds Her Direction Online

After earning a degree in education, Brooklyn Jackson saw a different future ahead – and switched lanes. A fully online communication degree program through the University of Arkansas made the transition smooth and straightforward.

Just 25 years old, Jackson now has two bachelor’s degrees. After earning the first one from a university near her Morrilton home, she decided she did not want to go into the education field.

“I decided to pursue career goals other than education and, when I started looking around, I saw the U of A had a great online program,” Jackson said.

That program was the Bachelor of Arts in Communication delivered online by the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. The degree is also offered in person on campus.

 

Open Road Ahead

While certain degrees point directly to a specific profession, such as accountant or engineer, others – like communication – offer a more flexible path, leading to careers in everything from marketing and media to corporate training and public service.

“I chose communication because the communication degree is so versatile, and it really allows you to choose whatever job you want moving forward, depending on your skills and interests,” Jackson said.

Margaret Butcher, teaching associate professor of communication, presented a framed diploma to Jackson on June 23 in Morrilton during the Razorbug Diploma Tour. A degree in communication gives graduates skills that are necessary in virtually any career they choose, Butcher said.

“Students learn how to communicate effectively, both in their professional and their personal lives,” Butcher said. “They learn about relationships and how to resolve conflicts.”

Jackson said she realized a communication degree would allow her to not only continue working on her writing skills but also build on interpersonal skills that matter in any people-centered career.

“That’s what I really want in a career,” she said. “I want to be around people and help people. I felt like a communication degree would really help me in pursuing that.”

Butcher said students in the communication program learn how to communicate in multiple personal and professional settings, from relationship building and maintenance, to conflict resolution in team settings, to media analysis and planning.

“If you look at most job listings, one of the first, if not the first, requirement they prefer is good communication skills,” she said. “Our program gives you that. We have graduates who are top executives at multi-national companies, filmmakers, consultants, media managers, government officials and support, and much more. As a major, communication can take you anywhere you want to go.”

Communication graduates from 2018 to 2024 rank No. 2 in highest salaries of all graduates in the Fulbright College, according to the 2024 Careers Outcome Report from the university. 

 

Family Roots

Family is very important to Jackson. She is a sixth-generation Morrilton resident and lives with one of her grandmothers on the family farm east of Morrilton. Her parents and two other grandparents also live on the property. Her parents and grandparents all have college degrees, and the family includes 20 teachers, Jackson’s mother said.

Her grandparents and mother attended Jackson’s diploma presentation on the Razorbug Diploma Tour at the Morrilton Depot Museum. Her father, who works in the medical field, was not able to attend. The past four summers, U of A faculty and staff accompanied the little red Volkswagen Beetle – a converted 2019 model with curly tail, razor spine, hooves, snout and tusks – to celebrate graduates of degree programs offered online.

In addition to valuing the support of a close-knit family while studying, Jackson found the convenience and flexibility of the online format fit her life well.

“I chose the University of Arkansas ONLINE because of the convenience,” she said. “It allowed me to work part-time while I was still going to school. And I could arrange my class schedule around, not only my work schedule, but any other thing I needed to do throughout the day. It was just very convenient.”

She was able to complete the degree in two years, in part because some of the foundational courses she took for her first degree transferred. That was even with taking one semester off when the Catholic school in Conway where she was working part time needed her to fill in for a teacher.

“I would say the best part was all the professors I got to work with,” Jackson said. “I genuinely enjoyed working with every professor I encountered so much. My favorite classes were probably survey and social media, intercultural communication, and interpersonal communication, but I enjoyed all of my classes.”