Chess, speedcubing, knitting, are all singular, indoor. I think the big thing lacking today is outdoors, exploring. That photographer, book is Humans in New York, then Humans, was an investment banker in Chicago. Lost his job and found out he was a great photographer. Just being out and about. My late DH and I have always stressed being out. DD says most of the kids in her class (of 120) don't go out, when they were all online in the spring. And half the class is still only online. One parent said, in our zoom parent meeting, that socialization was great, because in his kids' group of 15 kids, they were online with each other for hours every day, even going into the wee hours of the morning. How is that a good idea? A lot of those same kids do the after school and weekend olympiad school, similar to what you described. And similar to that group, one boy in 12th grade, just got in Harvard ED, being on the Olympiad physics and math teams. But what do you know of life? Most of the kids think they will do pre med. Because they don't know what else. I think being out doors since birth, is why DD is interested in deep, deep ocean robotics and marine science. Being on the ocean every summer. Exploring pools around the rocks for crabs etc. She would never know she was interested if she hadn't explored. And how many kids are applying to college with that interest? Those kinds of things help when they are choosing a diverse student body. Baking, sewing, climbing trees, putting an IKEA desk together. Most kids do none of these things.
