@gearmom, I don’t want to argue or derail this thread anymore. Of course, there is amazing potential for growth and change in all of us. In ten years, this young man may have mastered his limitations and used his sincerity and great strength of focus to run circles around all of us. I think highly of his attributes. In ten years he may join the Peace Corps or be in a much more powerful position to change the world than that…(usually Peace Corps is not seen as a career but a short-term experience…except in rare cases Peace Corps itself does not encourage people to do it for many years…though some go on to international NGOs.) I thought this thread was more about giving his parent ideas for helping him channel his energies in the relatively short-term future as he is NOW and likely to be for awhile. Lifelong tendencies (such as wanting to understand everything and needing to have perfect skills before committing to action) can change but tend to be tenacious… and I didn’t think for HIM the nearly constant internal chaos and acute lack of control of outside factors one experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer trying to accomplish something while in the throes of culture shock and confusion was a great fit for him in the near future. I was not thinking about ten years from now. I only wanted to help. I think I’ll bow out now so that more pertinent ideas than my Peace Corps derail can continue…