Student Vet Finds Purpose at CSUSM, in Veterans Center

Student Vet Finds Purpose at CSUSM, in Veterans Center

By Brian Hiro

Clayton McCabe (right) is a CSUSM senior who works in the Epstein Family Veterans Center. Photo by Kirra Robusto

Clayton McCabe never thought that college would be in his future.

Not when he graduated from high school and decided to enlist in the Marine Corps. Not when he exited several years later and found himself rudderless without the structure provided by the military. Not while he worked a series of odd jobs and dabbled in multiple blue-collar professions.

McCabe figured that he was destined to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom were lifelong construction workers.

"I thought that I was going to do some kind of manual labor," McCabe said. "I was like, 'I can't do college. I'm not smart enough.' "

That mentality prevailed until the end of 2021 when, feeling like he was out of viable options, McCabe elected to use his GI Bill benefits and enroll at Palomar College. Three years and a transfer to Cal State San Marcos later, he has arrived at the definitive conclusion that college is indeed for him.

A senior, McCabe is on track to graduate next spring with a degree in human development. His grade-point average at CSUSM is 3.9 - a vast improvement over the 1.7 he recorded in high school - and he has made the dean's list every semester.

McCabe, though, has found his most meaning and purpose outside of the classroom. Continuing the work he started at Palomar, he was hired as a student assistant in the Epstein Family Veterans Center through the federal work-study program before being promoted to a School Certifying Official (SCO).

An SCO acts as the middleman between a university and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In that role, McCabe helps CSUSM student veterans or the dependents of veterans access the VA benefits that they're entitled to, in the process working frequently with the offices of Financial Aid and Student Financial Services.

He also serves as a de factor academic adviser, assisting military-affiliated students with course selection and scheduling.

"This is the best job I've ever had, and I've had a lot of jobs," he said. "I get to work with veterans all day. I get to work with veteran families. And I like working at a college."

Christopher Ramirez, the interim assistant director of Veterans Services, met McCabe when the latter was a Palomar student expressing a desire to transfer to CSUSM. Impressed by McCabe's passion for supporting fellow veterans, Ramirez tapped him for the work-study role, then bumped him up to SCO when his experience with Palomar's veterans center allowed him to outshine his peers.

"To be successful as an SCO, you need to have a desire to help people, which Clay has," Ramirez said. "He truly cares for people and goes above and beyond to help students, from talking to them about applying, to assisting them with signing up for classes, to discussing benefits with them."

McCabe, 28, is the youngest of three boys in a family from Kansas City, Mo. After high school, he tried a local community college for a few weeks but disliked it so much that he dropped out in favor of the Marines in 2015.

He attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego and underwent combat and job training at Camp Pendleton, where he learned how to be the crewman of an amphibious assault vehicle, 26-ton tanks that can carry 23 Marines and float in the water. He went on two deployments - neither to combat zones, to his great relief - and traveled to 10 different countries during his time in active duty.

"I got to see a lot of the world," McCabe said. "I've been to the Arctic Circle. I've been past the equator. I've seen the Northern Lights. I got to go through the Suez Canal. I've done a lot."

McCabe not only saw the world through the Marines, he also met his future wife in the military, at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. McCabe married his wife, Sydnee, in 2017, he retired from the Marines two years later, and Sydnee remained in until last February. The couple moved to Temecula in 2019, only a few months after McCabe's exit, and his transition out the military was daunting.

There was a stint in HVAC school. There was a period working as a pipefitting apprentice on a huge construction site in Riverside. There was a dalliance with becoming a police officer or sheriff's deputy. There were jobs with UPS, Home Depot and a fitness center.

What there wasn't, however, was a clear sense of direction or mission. That came about when McCabe discovered higher education, and specifically CSUSM. And in two more developments that younger Clay couldn't have imagined, he's hoping to stay in the Veterans Center as a full-time SCO after graduation, then begin a two-year Master of Sociological Practice program next fall.

Make that three developments: He and Sydnee had their first child, a daughter named Mia, in May.

"I get a huge dopamine rush whenever I am able to help people," he said. "Whenever I talk to somebody in my job and they have no idea what they are entitled to, I'm like, 'Yeah, you can use this. Your kids' stuff can be completely paid for.' And you just see in their face that this changes everything."

"This is the best job I've ever had, and I've had a lot of jobs. I get to work with veterans all day," CSUSM student veteran Clayton McCabe says. Photo by Kirra Robusto

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