Suppose you are an American kid, age 14, in around 1943, and you really, really want to be a for-real super hero... and you have been promised that when you turn 18, you will be given a gift that will realistically allow you to follow your dream...

Such as: a Green Lantern ring of your very own, or a suit of powered armor, or a dose of super-soldier serum, or a magic wand - the same means currently employed by at least one successful super hero. So it is no longer a pipe dream, you really have the chance to be a hero. All you have to do is accept this gift - and then succeed.

How do you prepare for the next 4 years? Here's some things I've thought of.

extensive physical preparation - back then, that might include Golden Gloves, athletics, shooting, fencing

researching the hero already using the same means, and see what works for that hero and what doesn't...

trying to imagine other uses for the powers that hero has, that the hero hasn't employed yet

correspondence school for detectives

volunteering for the Fire Department

learning first aid

learning to drive anything you are allowed to, fly a plane, read a map, navigate

what else can you think of?