From Coasties to K-Poppers, the US is home to a range of teen subcultures. In the third of a series exploring Gen Z and Gen Y tribes, Andrea Graham Richeson delves into the overscheduled world of Alpha Achievers. Do these ambitious teens embody the model student and future star employee?

Not all kids like maths and science. Wouldn’t it be great if students could skip the subjects they find boring and instead focus on what they like best? At AltSchool, music, film or even robotics can be used as a vehicle for learning; kids will never play truant again.

Where are you from? It’s a seemingly safe question to ask most people, but for Third Culture Kids the answer is not that easy. The discrepancy between where they were born and where they feel they belong is vast. Raised in an assortment of cultures, how do their backgrounds affect who they are?

Japanese Gen Yers are often called the ‘enlightened generation’. Yet while they’re more self-aware and less materialistic than their parents, they’re also more risk-averse. Can the Tobitate! Young Ambassador Programme convince them to leave the comfort of home and study abroad?