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As students settle back into their old school routines — or find themselves navigating entirely new ones — it can be hard not to imagine what school could be. Sure, some enjoy the classes, the teachers, and the experiences, but others can’t help but want more. Thankfully, our favorite fandoms can come to the rescue and whisk us away from our desks and our computers to fictional schools that might actually be too cool for us (even if our homework is waiting patiently for when we get back).
U.A. High School
Are superpowers your thing? My Hero Academia’s U.A. is the anime high school for kids who want to use their superpowers — or “quirks” as they’re popularly known — to become professional heroes. Not only does it offer students practical, hands-on training for developing their quirks, but classes are taught by heroes who are actually working in the field (which is pretty much every college student’s dream). Even All Might, superhero icon, and idol of pretty much every U.A. student teaches hero studies there. After all, U.A. isn’t Japan’s number one hero academy for nothing.
Students are delegated to one of four specializations within U.A. — hero, general education, support, or management — that account for the practical uses of individuals’ quirks. Even within the specializations, teachers take the time to focus on the uniqueness of each students’ quirk and work, sometimes one-on-one, to help them improve. U.A. doesn’t miss an opportunity to show its students off to the world. The yearly sports festival is the perfect chance for students in the hero and support courses to demonstrate their quirks to hero agency scouts.
Not only do students get to apply their studies and practice their quirks in a (fairly) controlled setting, but they might be lucky enough to get scouted for a potential job as a sidekick after graduation. As far as fictional schools go, U.A. just might do the most when it comes to setting its students up for success.
For all its accolades, U.A. has its shortcomings. Unfortunately, these shortcomings begin right with its entrance exam. Prospective students endure both a written exam and a practical exam to determine whether or not they’re cut out for the hero courses. The practical exam, however, puts students with non-physical quirks (like Hitoshi Shinso, who can literally brainwash anyone who replies to him) at a severe disadvantage by making them fight giant robots.
This means that students who struggle through the written exam but excel in the practice have a better chance of making it into the coveted hero courses than those who ace the written but fail the practical simply because their quirks aren’t great for crushing said giant robots. It’s also worth noting that U.A. doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to keeping its students safe.
Perhaps gathering some of society’s greatest heroes under one roof warrants a bit of arrogance, but the school’s security is arguably worse than that of many real-life high schools. Students and teachers are subject to villain attacks every few months, sometimes even with specific students targeted for either recruitment or assassination. All in all, U.A. is not a school for the faint of heart. But despite its inherent dangers, it’s hard to deny just how awesome it would be to attend a superhero school as prestigious as All Might’s alma mater.
Galaxy Garrison
Perhaps space is more your speed. Netflix’s Voltron: Legendary Defender will send you to the Galaxy Garrison, a futuristic military base established to train students to become astroexplorers. While it might not be as futuristic as Voltron’s legendary flying lions, the Garrison boasts its own impressive array of weapons and vehicles, from single-person speeder bikes to impossibly large battleships. Most importantly, the Galaxy Garrison houses more than enough technology and ships to send full-fledged explorers into outer space.
Admittedly, cadets train using high-tech simulators that mimic space flight without the danger (or astronomical costs) of a real spacecraft. However, they still have the opportunity to practice the skills and teamwork required for a real space mission, complete with a pilot, engineer, and communications specialist working together to successfully execute their simulated missions. With enough practice, cadets can graduate to flying real spacecraft into outer space. The Galaxy Garrison provides those explorers with the means to delve deep into space and discover previously unexplored parts of the galaxy. While the Garrison might be out of this world, it still has its share of drawbacks.
Being a military base, the training is extremely strict and, of course, militaristic, regardless of whether you’re a cadet or a lieutenant. While that training is essential, the Galaxy Garrison is certainly one of the more difficult fictional schools to graduate from. More foreboding, however, is the prospect of the unknown. The Galaxy Garrison sends pilots and scientists to the farthest reaches of space. While there is excitement in being the first to discover something, one wrong move can be the difference between returning home or not.
Here, there is no room for error. The threat of encountering unfriendly extraterrestrial life — just like the Kerberos mission — also makes the Galaxy Garrison one of the most dangerous fictional schools to weather.
Camp Half-Blood
Discovered you’re a half-blood and can’t shake those monsters trailing you? Look no further than the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Camp Half-Blood, located on the north shore of Long Island, New York, is one of the coolest summer camps in fiction. The camp is one of the only places in North America where demigods are safe from ill-intentioned Greek gods and monsters. The Golden Fleece (acquired after The Sea of Monsters) magically protects the camp’s borders from monsters and bad weather (win-win!), so demigods can enjoy the sprawling strawberry fields, rolling hills, forest, and oceanfront in relative peace.
They can also enjoy typical summer camp activities but made approximately 100 times cooler. The climbing wall shakes, causing boulders and lava to fall from the top if a camper doesn’t climb fast enough. The armory provides bows and arrows for archery and swords and shields for Friday night capture-the-flag. A full-fledged amphitheater allows campers to enjoy sports the way they were meant to be experienced. Campers are designated to grand, decorated “cabins” depending on their godly parent. And the stables house Pegasi rather than horses.
So, Camp Half-Blood might be a bit more like an actual camp than a school, but it teaches demigods how to stay alive whenever they leave its protective borders, which is pretty much what a typical middle school or high school does anyway. That being said, a lot of the campers’ time at Camp Half-Blood is spent either worrying about life-threatening events or preparing for life-threatening events.
Being demigods, Greek monsters are almost constantly drawn to them to the point where it’s dangerous to even carry a cell phone (they broadcast a demigod’s whereabouts). And when monsters aren’t trying to kill them, chances are a vindictive god or goddess is out for revenge, or simply to use another unsuspecting demigod in some elaborate scheme (we’re looking at you, Hera). Oh, and there’s always the chance of being sent on a dangerous quest, most likely to retrieve some ancient artifact or to save the world. Being a demigod comes with a lot of pressure.
Camp Jupiter
So you’re a Roman half-blood? The Heroes of Olympus, the follow-up series to Percy Jackson, can help. Camp Jupiter is the Roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood, but considerably better organized and protected. This is evident even in the difference between the two camps’ mottos. The entrance to Camp Half-Blood reads “Keeping Young Heroes Safe from Harm (Mostly) For Over Three Millennia!” whereas Camp Jupiter’s is “Aut vincere aut mori. Conquer or Die.” Needless to say, Camp Half-Blood is the more fun of the two.
However, demigods who make it to Camp Jupiter in San Francisco tend to have a better chance of living through to adulthood than those at Camp Half-Blood. The camp not only houses protective barracks and an incredibly complex societal structure, but it also has a thriving Roman-esque civilization where demigods can live well into adulthood.
Retired legionnaires (soldiers who defend the camp) can attend college, get married, and make a life for themselves in New Rome, part of Camp Jupiter. While retired life at Camp Jupiter might be cozier than what Camp Half-Blood can promise, life as a young demigod is arguably much more fun for the Greeks. Camp Half-Blood operates under the supervision of Chiron, legendary centaur and activities director, and the (mostly) easy teamwork of its demigod campers. Camp Jupiter’s social structure, however, is much stricter and subject to corruption by power-hungry demigods.
The newest recruits at Camp Jupiter join the lowest of the low ranks of cohorts — the Roman camp’s version of Camp Half-Blood’s cabins, but without the patron gods or any of the fun. Demigods can make their way through the ranks, all the way to praetor. However, with so many ranks and positions of power, the system can be easily manipulated for personal gain. But navigating the hierarchy of Camp Jupiter is worth the peace of mind graduating from it provides.
Commonalities
Despite whichever one you’d choose, many fictional schools have a lot in common. Perhaps most apparent is the recurring theme of the found family. While some of us might get the chance to experience this in real life, fictional schools love to include it whenever possible. This is especially apparent in The Galaxy Garrison, where cadets form tight-knit teams over years of training, and Camp Half-Blood, where demigods are often missing one (or both) parents and are accepted to the camp with open arms.
Like old Uncle Ben warned, great power and great responsibility are often entwined. U.A. is tasked not only with training the next generation of great heroes, but also with keeping those students safe — along with the rest of Japan. In turn, students have high expectations to live up to if they want to become heroes themselves. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter also house some powerful demigods who attract even more powerful gods and monsters.
And of course, each school is packed with life-threatening scenarios. Students are faced with life-and-death situations often enough that their school’s security is likely questioned by parents and authorities daily. After all, school can’t be all fun and games — even if it’s fiction.