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Wilmington StarNews
Austin Tyras-Reed had planned on following in his father’s footsteps and making a career in the U.S. military.
“Growing up, I used to keep a picture of him in his Honor Guard uniform next to a Christmas tree,” Tyras-Reed recalled. “I would sleep with that at night, and his uniform fascinated me.”
After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he found friends, a career he loved in security forces, and a sense of purpose.
“I just loved knowing that I was protecting an entire base and all of its assets,” he said. “I felt important. I felt like I mattered now, and it felt great to serve my country.”
But one day, all that changed. He was stationed in Africa with a crew, checking IDs when he found himself unable to get out of his chair. His sergeant carried him to the medical tent where a team checked his vital signs and found nothing out of the ordinary. They told him to “just sleep it off,” but as he rose from the chair in the medical tent, there was a puddle of blood in his seat indicating something more serious.
He soon found himself on a C-130 Medevac traveling to Germany where he spent three months.
That’s where the doctor gave him the diagnosis: ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that damages the colon. The illness caused weakness and significant weight loss. While he was able to finish out his military contract, he was no longer able to do the physical training that deployment required, which meant his military career had come to an end.
“It pretty much ripped my life away,” he recalled. “Everything I worked so hard for: PT, the work hours, the training — everything.”
His supervisor at his last enlisted job had always encouraged him to go back to school, but Tyras-Reed never could find the time. Once his military career was over, he admits he spiraled into depression for a time and felt as if he was “back to square one.”
Then he called his former supervisor and asked him to repeat the advice about education one more time. Now living in Leland, with his mother, he decided to call Brunswick Community College.
At first, he was a bit nervous about returning to school, but he noted that in his life, he’s had to adapt to many changes, and this was just one more. After getting acclimated, he opted to enroll is mostly online classes. But when he saw the opportunity to serve as an ambassador for The Foundation of Brunswick Community College, he jumped at it. That position gives him the opportunity to speak to students, donors, and people in the community about the college and all that it offers.
Tyras-Reed said through his education and work with Wilmington First Pentecostal Holiness Church, he’s found a renewed sense of purpose. Tyras-Reed will graduate with an associate’s degree in information technology and plans to continue his education at UNC Wilmington. His goal is to return to Arlington, Va., and work for the government as a security information analyst.
“I figure if I can’t physically protect people, then I can digitally protect people,” he explained.
Renee Spencer is the community engagement editor at the StarNews. Reach her at [email protected].