As a high school kid, Joseph Pate Bauldree of El Dorado really didn't have a clue what he wanted to be when he grew up. That didn't stop him from becoming part of the economic growth of south Arkansas.

"When I came out of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do," Bauldree said. "I had been told my entire childhood I needed to go to college, and I needed to get scholarships."

Bauldree, now an engineer, recently started a new job with Lockheed Martin, one of several major defense industry manufacturers in the United States.

Lockheed Martin in nearby Camden is a manufacturing, final assembly, test and storage operation for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control programs, according to its website. It is in Camden's Highland Industrial Park, which, in 1944, was the land chosen for the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot. The depot was closed in the late 1950s, and the industrial park is now home to several top aerospace and defense corporations, including Raytheon Technologies, Aerojet Rocketdyne, General Dynamics and ArmTech Defense Products, in addition to Lockheed Martin.

The Razorbug Diploma Tour stopped in El Dorado on June 20 to present Bauldree a framed diploma for his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, the key to his new position as a manufacturing engineer with Lockheed Martin. His family and co-workers joined him for the presentation. U of A staff and faculty traveled for two weeks in June through western, southern and eastern Arkansas celebrating graduates of online degree programs. The M.S.E.E. is one of about 90 degree and licensure programs delivered online by the U of A.

After high school, Bauldree enrolled at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia on an academic scholarship. He expressed an interest in architecture during an advising appointment but learned not all universities have all degree programs, so he thought about what he had been good at in high school and chose to major in math. He minored in education.

With his math degree from SAU, Bauldree still wasn't sure what to do, so he moved to Texas and pursued a career in ministry for five years. Upon returning to El Dorado, he decided to use his math degree to teach and was hired to teach high school math. Teaching was not his passion, but he enjoyed the aspect of building relationships with students and serving as a mentor for them. He also considered his co-workers a highlight of the job.

He taught for seven years and thought he would continue teaching until he retired because he believed he did not have other options. While teaching, he enrolled in a grant-funded pilot program to earn a Master of Education in Educational Equity delivered online by the U of A. That program has since been discontinued.

"I thought I was stuck with cards I was dealt," Bauldree said. "Then, 2020 came and the pandemic. Our workload doubled. Everything we did in class, we had to make a video and upload it. I understood that was our reality, but at the end of 2021 our workload didn't change. A lot of teachers were leaving the profession."

One of his fellow teachers, Caroline de Simon, who also was honored on the Razorbug Diploma Tour this summer, left teaching in 2020 and went to work for a chemical company in Magnolia, using her education in computer science. Bauldree started thinking about going back to school for an engineering degree, which would be his second master's degree delivered online by the U of A.

"I was in a teacher group chat with people I enjoyed working with," he said. "Caroline and two others had left teaching, and we were talking about how education was changing. I told them I was considering going back for an engineering degree. Caroline said, 'That's funny, I'm considering that. Let's do it together.' We talked about it and researched it."

Bauldree took his first class starting in March 2022 and resigned his teaching job that May.

Louisiana Tech, which is within driving distance of El Dorado, offered an engineering master's degree, but the U of A program being online appealed to Bauldree. While earning the master's degree, Bauldree also completed a graduate certificate in operations management online.

"I looked into several programs," he said. "U of A was the most affordable, and it looked like it would work out well. I could keep my full-time job, and it was a bonus to be a Razorback."

It was not easy, though, Bauldree said, and good time management was vital as well as having a support system.

"I would definitely recommend seeking someone out who's going through the same process and having someone to lean on, complain, vent, discuss this or that," he said. "That's big time, even if the person is not in the program with you like Caroline was, finding that support so you can have that outlet will be helpful for you."

Now, he is excited to be starting a new career as an engineer for Lockheed Martin, fresh with his master's degree from the U of A.

The 2024 Razorbug Diploma Tour, in its third year, travels the state in the summer to celebrate the accomplishments of graduates of online degree programs. The Razorbug, a 2005 Volkswagen Beetle converted to look like a Razorback with hooves, snout, curly tail and razor spine, was on loan from the Office of Admissions. Global Campus staff drove the Bug more than 2,100 miles through western, southern, eastern and central Arkansas to present 16 diplomas in 15 counties. Only two of the graduates earned bachelor's degrees. The rest were master's degrees and one doctorate. In academic year 2024, the U of A awarded 1,013 online degrees and certificates.