While most students went about, busy with the usual rush of school and life at the start of the year, Nathan Rowe was trapped at home. Rowe, for the good end of his junior year of high school, spent his days under medical house arrest during the period of his recovery after fighting cancer.
“Basically, I was not healthy enough to leave the house, and no one could come over because I couldn’t be exposed to certain things that would make me sick,” Rowe explains.
For 6-8 months, he was stuck in the house with no ability to get out, and with very few visits from the outside world.
As time went on and the world seemed to pass him by, Rowe knew he needed more, and soon enough found himself engaged in a show, his childhood favorite, RWBY. To compensate for the dearth of places to be and things to do, Rowe developed a passion for the show and the characters. He continued on to create his own fan characters for the show and his love for the project ultimately decided what he wanted for his Make-A-Wish.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that grants “wishes” or gifts to kids with life-threatening diseases.
“When my Make-A-Wish came through, I asked them if I could visit the production company, so I went to Austin, Texas.” Rowe says.
As soon as his house arrest ended at the start of June, Rowe flew to Texas and spent a day at the production facility. He was given a tour of their multiple campuses and was able to meet the voice actors from the show, as well as get the full behind-the-scenes look at the set.
Apart from the normal tour, what made Rowe’s experience so unique was that the producers took his designs of the characters he made and loved them.
“Yeah, they took my stuff and maybe they’ll use them. I don’t know yet, but they have them on their wall and stuff, Rowe says, and creating the characters was really hard to do but uh they really loved them. It was a really awesome experience.”
The students and faculty alike here at Ripon High are pulling for the opportunity that Rowe has to have his work used in the show. His story of finding a light during his period of darkness can be one of inspiration to those who are yet to find it themselves.
“It was a really depressing time, and the show was something interesting to me that sparked some passion and I ended up caring about my characters more than the originals,” Rowe laughed.
