Embracing his burden

Jack is a middle schooler from our apartment complex. Either because of the language barrier or the shyness of youth, most students are hesitant to interact with a foreigner. Jack is different. I remember from our earliest times here, he has been willing to use the English that he knows to talk with me.

A polite young man with obvious intelligence, he conducts himself with a sobriety uncommon for his age. His father is in business and his mother a college professor. He says he has four hours of homework a night and doesn't have an abundance of free time. He likes to play video games and basketball.

While eating lunch with him and shooting some hoops during his summer vacation this week, I am struck by the responsibility that he bears. Yet, I see no sign in his countenance that he resents the burden that he has been given. "Do your parents give you pressure?" I ask. "No, just my teachers, " he replies.

Next week his two week summer break will end and he will go back to school, his vacation homework in hand.