I WAS IN MARCHING BAND:

Although he was officially enthroned in a 2019 ceremony in India, he's still living in Columbia Heights, where his parents decided he'll stay until graduation.

"Seeing him growing up to a teenager is a lot of things to take in because he's a Buddhist master, and at the same time, he's a normal person as well," said his uncle, Tashi Lama. "We get to see the two sides of it."

In Jalue's room, a photo of the Dalai Lama rests above DVD collections of "The Simpsons," "Family Guy" and "South Park," next to volumes of ″Buddha." That's a graphic novel series by Osamu Tezuka, a master of the Japanese comic art form known as manga.

On his bedside table, Jalue keeps a journal where he diagrams football strategies that he'd like to try on the field playing as a defensive tackle and offensive guard with his school team.

He loves sports, especially Atlanta teams.

"You'll always see me outside wearing this hat" he said about his favorite Falcons cap. "Unless I'm wearing my robes." Would it be easier if he was just a regular teen? "Nothing like that crosses my mind," he said, laughing. "It's always been religion first."

Growing up he had a deal with his dad, who would give him the Pokémon cards in return for committing Buddhist scriptures to memory. He collected hundreds and would sometimes sneak them in his robes at ceremonies.

Every morning he wakes up to recite sacred texts. He then attends school, followed by football practice, and returns home for tutoring lessons on Tibetan history and Buddhism. Late at night he might practice his calligraphy or run on a treadmill in the basement while listening to rappers like Drake and Polo G.

"He's naturally very open-minded, and he's also very genuinely interested in the world. ... He doesn't have these preconceived notions of who he is," said Kate Thomas, one of his tutors and the teachings coordinator at Minneapolis' Bodhicitta Sangha Heart of Enlightenment Institute.

"He knows he's Tibetan. He also knows he's American," Thomas said. "But like the youth of today, he is a global citizen as well. And he started out that way due to his age, his generation."

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