I can relate with this one. I likely wouldn't have gone to university at all if not for the Golden Scholarship offered by the Canadian Forces in exchange for military service. The trade-off during those first 3 years of my military career was that I was getting paid peanuts otherwise.
BTDT. I joined the US Army Reserves for college money right out of high school. 26 years later, I'm still in. Got a bunch of college and seminary paid for, though.