Hillbilly Elegy, by J. D. Vance: on Homeland Security

JD Vance: Marine Corps prepares students well for college

By the time I started at Ohio State, the Marine Corps had instilled in me an incredible sense of invincibility. I'd go to classes, do my homework, study at the library, and make it home in time to drink well past midnight with my buddies, then wake up early to go running. My schedule was intense, but everything that had made me fear the independent college life when I was 18 felt like a piece of cake now. I knew that Ohio State was put-up-or-shut-up time. I had left the Marine Corps not just with a sense that I could do what I wanted but also with the capacity to plan [such as for Law School].

I loathed debt and the sense of limitation it imposed. the GI Bill paid for a significant chunk of my education.