Andrew Hanson used his GI Bill to pay for his Harvard law degree. Now he earns in the mid-six figures as a lawyer at Skadden.
Dupont Photographers
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew Hanson, a 35-year-old lawyer based in Virginia. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Growing up without a lot in the Chicago area, I tried to do all the right things to set myself up, like taking honors classes and playing football.
I lost my way and started making bad decisions. At 17, I was kicked out of high school because I skipped class to work at my fast-food job and hang out with my friends.
After getting kicked out of school, I enlisted in the Marine Corps.
I got my GED and took 15 units of entry-level community college classes, like English 101 and US History. My recruiter said it would help me get the military paralegal job I was aiming for, but I didn't get it, so I went into infantry.
I left for boot camp in August 2006, graduated in November, and started at the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, California, the next month.
My first deployment was to Iraq, and then I deployed aboard the USS New Orleans. The military taught me to push myself, be self-disciplined, manage people and teams, and work in a fast-paced environment.
I met my wife in 2008 while stationed in California between deployments, and she became pregnant with our first child as I neared the end of my first enlistment in 2010. I started to feel less invincible and began to think about a new career. I didn't want to be away for months at a time and miss my child's early life.
Tragically, our first daughter died during birth. My wife and I supported each other and decided to persevere.
I was enrolled full-time in an associate of arts program in political science and government, taking four to five classes per semester.
I began working the graveyard shift as a security guard to make ends meet. I was on campus from 9:30 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. each weekday. Then, I'd go to sleep and get up to work from midnight to 8 a.m., five days or more a week.
Many of my academic interests pointed toward a career in law, so I began researching what I needed to do to become a lawyer.
The military taught me to always push myself above and beyond the minimum requirements. I joined two honors societies and saw that we received letters from universities inviting us to apply.
I felt confident that my chances of being accepted by some public universities were promising, but I also applied to some big ones, like Stanford and Columbia.
Stanford offered me a place and a full scholarship through needs-based aid due to my income. Saying yes to Stanford was a no-brainer. Our second daughter was born right before we moved to Stanford.
My job transferred me, but the hours weren't sustainable, so I quit to focus on being a student. I took out student loans to cover my family's living expenses.
The highlight of my time at Stanford was a program called Stanford in Washington, where I spent a term in DC, took small classes that engaged in government policy, and worked an internship with the Department of Justice. My family moved with me, and we lived in a faculty apartment.
In my junior year, I started studying for and taking the LSAT, drafting multiple essays for different prompts, and getting feedback from trusted sources.
Based on my application metrics, I was confident I could get into some schools, but I've also thrown a few Hail Marys in my life, and they've been caught, so I wanted to give some of the top-ranked schools a shot.
When the call came from an unknown number in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I couldn't believe this was happening to me.
I saved three academic years of GI Bill benefits because of my scholarship to Stanford. The GI Bill is capped at the highest cost of an in-state public school, but they have a Yellow Ribbon Program where schools can agree to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to cover some or all of the remaining gap.
Fortunately, Harvard covered 50% of the remaining gap, so the VA matched and covered the rest.
I took out more student loans to cover family living expenses, and our third child was born shortly after I arrived at Harvard.
It was very similar to my Stanford experience, where there were many people with extremely impressive backgrounds. Then there were people like me who seemingly 'defied the odds' that we incorrectly believed made places like this out of our reach.
The best advice I received during my academic career is that you're not paying for the materials in textbooks so much as the people you meet and the conversations you'll have.
I now practice securities enforcement at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and my salary is in the mid-six figures range.
Our fourth child was born shortly after we moved back to DC. After supporting me, my wife is pursuing her career interests with our local county police department.
It's pretty amazing that a Black kid from a low-income family who didn't finish high school was able to achieve all of this. I've had no regrets since joining the Marines.
I could've made better decisions as a teenager, but that's life. I don't know that I'd be in the same place or have achieved the same accomplishments had I not taken my current path.
Want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com.
