The first words visitors see at the U.S. Air Force website are “We do the impossible every day.” As an airman, husband and father of two working toward his second master’s degree while on active duty, Tech. Sgt. Matthew Sigmon has learned that the slogan is true, and that the key word is “we.”

Sigmon is just a few classes away from earning a graduate degree from one of the world’s best programs for sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina. As if grad school weren’t hard enough, he also recently returned from a one-year combat zone deployment in Afghanistan.

“It is really difficult, but I’ve learned that you have to serve others around you in order to make things work,” Sigmon says. “If you do your part, you’ll find your community will be there to help you when you need it.”

Sigmon has, beyond a shadow of a doubt, served. He’s a 17-year Air Force veteran who has risen through the ranks and is now in charge of building bombs and supervising 45 airmen. He went into the explosives specialty because, as he puts it, “a long time ago they needed someone, so I did it.”

Throughout his military service, Sigmon has found ways to serve and to learn beyond his normal duties. He has helped coach high school football and wrestling while deployed in South Korea. He went to college and earned his bachelor’s degree in sports and health sciences and a master’s in education with an emphasis on sport management. He then completed the Air Force’s Senior NCO Professional Military Education Course before coming to South Carolina’s Master of Science in Sport and Entertainment Management program.  Read the full article here.