Neither geek nor nerd

My 9th grade grammar class has just two student. Shoko and Yuzuru.
Shoko is a typical girl of the "cheerleader" type. She is cute, outgoing, athletic, and smart.
On the contrary of Shoko, Yuzuru looks awkward & unsociable boy.
I tried to drag what he was interested in. He said he loves computer games and mathematics. Hummm...
I thought he was either geek or nerd.

Today, he looked more uncomfortable than usual.
After the lesson, I asked him.
"Hey, Yuzuru! How are you? Do you have a cold or...pollen allergy? You look tired today!"
He squinted his eyes and said.
"Well, I burned the midnight oil last night..."
"For what? The terminal test?"
"No. I have to submit my thesis. The due day is tomorrow."
I opened my eyes wide with surprise.
"Thesis? You are a junior high student! What kind of topic?"
"brabrabra...( he said something I completely don't understand. That was a scientific topic.)"
"...OK. How many pages?"
"170."
"What!? Your school is crazy!"
He smiled a bit, "Right. My school is crazy. So I have to."
I said to him, "Well, thank you VERY MUCH for coming here. It's the hardest day for you!"
Then, he smiled again (it was VERY rare for him...")
"It's OK. See you next week."
Then, he left.

Some students are eloquent, but some have hardly talked about their background.
However, all of them have been trying hard to come to our English school, and making an effort to study in their free time.
We, teachers should try to communicate with them more to know their background.

Yuzuru is neither geek, nor nerd! Even though he looks so...