Students marvel over their favorite superheroes, both in real life and the fantasy world

By Andy Yang
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Superheroes have dominated the stories in every time and culture. They tend to be people who are a bit larger than life and who have worked to make the world a better place for everyone. But for junior Ashley Sipe, superheroes do exist in real life.

“For me, my real life superhero would be my uncle (Greg Trout). He was adopted when he was little, and he’s native American; so growing up, he didn’t have an easy life because people made fun of him for that. Plus, my grandma was always really sick, so my mom was the one who took care of her, and he always felt really out of place in the family. He had to go through a lot. He ran away when he was young, and he regrets everything now, but I’ve learned a lot of life lessons from him,” Sipe said.

Trout and his wife currently work as search dog trainers, traveling to Ground Zero after 9/11 and to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in order to help out, according to Sipe. She said she began looking up to him when she was 12. It was then, she said, when her mother got sick.

“He was the one who would always be there for me, and he would keep the family together, when everything was falling apart, and just made me really proud of him cause nobody else could do it, only him,” she said.
Although Sipe said her family is no longer in contact with Trout, she said he has not only had a positive influence, but has also helped her think about her future as well.

“He definitely made me a stronger person, and made me more tolerant of and think about things that I never would’ve thought about before, like people being adopted or coming in from a different situation and how hard it can be on them, to not feel accepted,” Sipe said. “I’ve definitely gotten a lot of ideas from him. He’s shaped me as a person because he’s around for so much of my life. I’ve definitely learned stuff from him, and he definitely makes me want to go into an area helping people like he has because I can tell that it makes him happy and he enjoys what he does.