| Angela started a one-year graduate program in 2001, she never imagined she would be finishing the degree in 2004, after two years of active duty with the N.C. National Guard unit, the 139th Support Detachment (Rear Operations Center), based in Morrisville. The intelligence officer received her master of accounting degree two years after she expected to finish.
Amidon says that on Sept. 11, 2001, she knew instantly that her life was going to change. She had joined the National Guard three years earlier after growing up in a military family. “I was finally going to play my part,” she says. She was immediately activated, and sent to Afghanistan with the XVIII Airborne Corps out of Fort Bragg. Her classmates in the master of accounting program gave her a coveted Palm Pilot as a gift, and kept in touch by sending pictures and care packages.
When she returned home at the end of 2002, Amidon prepared to continue her graduate studies. She was enrolled at NC State for less than a month when she was re-activated and sent to Kuwait. She returned last December and began, for the second time, spring semester courses in the MAC program. After being in a complete military mindset, she says, staying focused on school was a challenge.
Amidon predicts that the investigative and analytical skills she developed working in military intelligence will be helpful for her accounting career. While serving in two combat zones, she also learned to appreciate the advantages of life in the United States. “I’m calmer and more patient,” she says. “I learned that you don’t sweat the small stuff.” The bottom line, she says, is that her experiences were life-changing.
Amidon is the wife of Clayton Amidon of Raleigh. She earned a B.S. degree in accounting from NC State in 2001. After graduation, she will study for the CPA exam and begin a job with accounting firm McGladrey and Pullen in Raleigh.
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