Over-caffeinated father/writer/veteran/student at home. via Facebook After marking the second anniversary of my exit from military service a couple weeks ago, a Marine buddy asked me to write a short essay about successfully transitioning to civilian life.

I was a bit surprised by the request because I don’t exactly fit the American ideal of success, at least not by the most common measurement – personal wealth.

American social mobility is intrinsically tied to greater income, more possessions, higher status. These values help explain why consumer spending accounts for nearly 70 percent of our gross domestic product. Rational self-interest. The fruits of your labor. American dream. A dog chasing its tail.

Well, I’m broke.

But despite that, I feel I’ve been very successful since leaving the military because I’ve been able to fulfill my dreams of higher education while providing for my family. I’m the beneficiary of a culture that values and exalts military members above most other groups, and laudatory political rhetoric has manifested over the years in a bevy of social programs, which I began taking advantage of when I left the military in 2011 after 13 years on active-duty. Unemployment benefits? Check. VA disability rating? Check. G.I. Bill? Check. VA healthcare that meets Obamacare requirements and shields me from penalty for not purchasing my own? Check.

And don’t forget my free dinner at Applebee’s on Veterans Day.

The crown jewel of these benefits, in my view, is the new G.I. Bill. Conceived and championed by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Act of 2008 provided a much-needed update to the Montgomery G.I. Bill.

With America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in full swing and no end in sight, Webb rightly saw the need to provide a new mechanism for veterans to afford higher education and transition into the new American economy. Ever since the government incentivized higher education so boldly, veterans like me have found it hard to turn down getting paid to earn college degrees.

My wife, a veteran of the Afghanistan War, is about to complete an associate’s degree and transfer to a four-year university in Oregon, where she’ll study health sciences on her way toward a doctorate in physical therapy.

My best friend grew up in a Miami ghetto and flunked out of high school. He will graduate from Columbia University with a BA in Philosophy thanks to a four-year stint in the Marines. He didn’t even have to deploy to Iraq.

The friend who asked me to write this used his benefits to complete a master’s degree in journalism at NYU. Other Marine friends are studying mathematics and economics at Fordham University; predictive analytics at Northwestern University; film at the University of Texas; screenwriting at USC; culinary college in Denver.

I know several vets who have already earned or are pursuing a master’s in military social work. They’re seeking to fill a huge need in America’s new post-war economy, assuming, of course, the war does actually end and another doesn’t swiftly pop up in its place. Fingers crossed.

My contribution, my American dream, is to serve my country and humanity in the way I believe I was meant to – as a storyteller, a teacher and a good father. My military service has entitled me to the means to accomplish my dreams.

I am less than six weeks from completing an MS in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Oregon. I started my undergraduate studies at a community college in a Sacramento suburb in 1996. I joined the Army in 1998 as an infantryman, deployed to Kosovo in 2000 and was honorably discharged in 2001.

Then I joined the Marines as a combat correspondent just two weeks after Sept. 11, 2001. While serving, I earned numerous accolades and awards for my skills as a storyteller and leader of Marines, and by the time my final enlistment was up in October 2011, I had just two semesters left to finish my BS in Photojournalism from Syracuse, a trove of skills and experience, and the full support of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American people.

I’m working on this American dream thing — the nice house with the big yard, a Cadillac healthcare plan, retirement and a college fund for my daughters, the whole enchilada. I will soon have a master’s degree, which I can use to begin teaching at the college level.

My career as a freelance journalist, blogger and documentary filmmaker is off to a good start, and I’m learning how to make self-employment work while I support my wife as she pursues her bachelor’s degree. I’m a devoted father of two amazing daughters. And while my income remains paltry for now, my family and I live a modest but happy life in a community we love.

Hard work has gotten us to this stage in our lives, and we feel our future is bright. But I think it’s important to acknowledge that a lot of this success equation in America is luck and help from my fellow Americans. My wife and I couldn't have done it on our own.

Ethan E. Rocke is a multimedia journalist in Portland, Oregon, and a 2013 Tillman Military Scholar. See more of his work at ethanrocke.com.