Maybe he doesn’t have breadth. True. Bc yes, JRTOC is by far a huge chunk of his life other than academics. (Drill team, academic team, and PT take hours of his time before and after school each day, plus drill meets, academic brain brawls, and other demands for JROTC like fundraising as it’s a public school with NO money for funding besides what little the Navy provides for uniforms and basics.)
He also squeezes math tutoring (receiving not providing), and NHS activities (book drives, school maintenance events on weekends repainting murals on campus, painting parking lines, touching up other school areas that maintenance doesn’t always have time/money to do). He also tutors some of his JROTC peers before school. He had a p/t fast food job last summer/fall (before hubby and I pulled the plug b/c of time constraints). He initiated applying for the job b/c he “feel like I need to be true teenager and know what it means to work”. He got his first paychecks and yes, was surprised at how little he got paid but he appreciated having interactions beyond that of HS peers and JROTC crowd. He cleaned bathrooms, wiped tables, emptied garbage and took orders from college students, etc. and realized people change their minds a lot, etc. He liked having co-workers who were almost all college students. (Restaurant is across street from our local college.)
He works one-on-one with his Spanish teacher after school bc while he is Hispanic born, he is not a native speaker and 80% of his classmates are. So he has A’s but wants to improve his fluency.
He spent some time one volunteering at Humane Society. But not in depth.
He has said that he would really like to take an art class his senior year but feels he shouldn’t b/c of needing to keep his schedule comprised of all challenging classes.
He also said he would like a college where he could do a little theatre (back to his Middle school days) bc he misses being on stage and performing.
So…yes, he doesn’t do those things now but he has a huge creative side that if he could find an outlet for in college, he’d also try to make it happen. He has an interest in photography but nothing to date.
So I guess I neglected to present the side you may (?) be hinting at that isn’t developed: a curiosity of things besides govt/politics/history.
He is really a cool kid. He is quite bright but he is always up to try new things. (He wanted to pursue a year in Japan via Rotary but we weren’t ready to have him leave us for a year while still in high school.)
Lastly, to finish “painting the picture” a bit:
He attended a private school from preschool through 7th grade but he insisted on leaving it to attend public school. He was “tired of a bubble” and of “white, wealthy kids with beach homes”. He shadowed at the local public middle and enrolled the following nine weeks. He was thrilled. He ate food at the cafeteria every day, walked home from school, delighted in a double-block English class with MUCH writing and was thrilled with the diversity. He’s never looked back with any regret and now is looking for more adventures in college.