Driving home tonight I passed one of those traveling carnivals set up in the parking lot of a local movie theater, the kind where everything either has wheels or can be packed up in a couple of semi trucks. There was a circle of RVs around the back side of all the rides and game booths. Which, of course, led me to start thinking about our favorite ex-carnie, Clint Barton, and what his life was like as a kid. It’s comic book canon that he and his brother Barney ran away from the orphanage and ended up living and working in a traveling carnival. And it seems like in the MCU, Clint has a military background. But you need a high school diploma or GED to join the US military. So if he was a traveling carnie, how the heck did he get his education? He wasn’t attending the local school. I’m not sure if it’s canon or fanon that Clint is very well read, but if he was a traveling carnie, he wouldn’t be able to get a library card, so where did he get his books?

I know I'm smashing together comics and MCU canon here, but that's what my brain does sometimes. Anyhoo, I'm curious, what are your theories about how Clint got his education? I need to develop some head canon around this.