When Tron Bosse walked off the helicopter, he immediately heard the sound of gunfire. It was 2005 and he was on his first tour of Iraq.

Bosse is now a junior policy studies and history dual major at Syracuse University. A smile washed over his face as he admitted he is considering adding a third major.

The military prepared him for college, he said. After finishing up high school, he wanted to leave home as fast as possible, but college wasn’t right for him at the time. So, a 17-year-old Bosse set his sights on the military. He wanted to see the world.

Transitioning back to civilian life has brought some big changes, Bosse said. He is conscious of the fact that when in Iraq, he always had a weapon on him.

“Your first day back, you wake up and automatically check, ‘where’s my M-16,’ but then you realize you’re back in the States,” Bosse said.

Bosse always knew he wanted to go to college, and now that he is back in the United States, he can be found poring over his books before classes. He wants to go to law school after graduating — hopefully at SU, he said, grinning and crossing his fingers.

When SU students learn that Bosse is older than the typical college student, they don’t treat him any differently. When they learn he is a military man however, the questions start. Some of his stories surprise them, he said, describing how a Humvee he was riding in Iraq was once hit.

SU has always been welcoming to him, Bosse said. When he was younger, he had always looked to SU as a possibility. He admired John Wallace, the basketball player, and wanted to follow in his footsteps. It wasn’t until he had completed two tours of Iraq and a tour of Africa that he decided to move up north.

Although he was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and raised in Texas, Bosse came prepared for the weather, having experienced extreme weather conditions before.

“One time in Iraq we left where it was 110 degrees and we landed in Maine where there was two feet of snow outside,” Bosse chuckled. “You just have to be ready to deal with whatever the weather throws at you.”

Every day, Bosse tries to absorb as much information as possible. The military taught Bosse that discipline is the instant willingness to follow order. But he defines it differently.

“Discipline is really the ability to choose between what you want now, and what you want the most,” Bosse said. “To me, that’s discipline.”

Published on March 26, 2017 at 9:41 pm

Contact Rachel: rcgilber@syr.edu