Chapter Text
When it came to nurturing heroes the Hero Commission realized that having them learn on the job didn't work. Empowered who had never used their powers for anything other than small tasks suddenly having to stop collapsing buildings or defeat powerful enemies wasn't a good thing for the Hero Commission's reputation and image. These inexperienced untrained heroes often did more harm than good.
As a solution, the American branch of the Hero Commission came up with the idea of creating a school to train heroes how to do the work like how normal humans go to college. After a lot of back and forth and failed alternative solutions Próxima Academy was founded.
The academy was named after America's first official hero(the first hero to join the Commission) Charlie Lowen better known as the Hero Próxima. Upon Charlie’s retirement, they were named the Dean and ran the school for its first few years.
Proxima Academy taught all sorts of things from combat to dealing with civilians to training one’s power. In terms of layout and facilities, Proxima Academy is basically a college especially since you need to have a high school diploma or GED to apply. From classrooms to dorms to on-campus stores and restaurants it and all other Academies or fully self-sufficient. The only real difference between Proxima Academy and a real college is the fact that aside from food, furniture for your dorm, clothes, and supplies you don’t pay for anything unless you drop out, get expelled, or are simply taking their equivalent of a GED without ever attending the academy. The reason behind this was that “free” would attract more people especially when the Hero career pays well since it’s a dangerous profession.
I say “free” because upon enrollment and acception, people sign a contract to serve as a hero for a certain amount of years depending on which type of hero they plan to be. Ex: Healing Hero, Rescue Hero, Combative Hero, etc.
The academy ended up being a success for lessening the damage new heroes inflicted while on the job. As a result, Hero Commission branches all over the world began opening their own academies using Proxima as a base.
As time passed graduating from an Academy or getting their equivalent of a GED became a requirement to enlist as a hero.