Kudos to this young man. Not doing what everyone expects of you is not easy. He has worked hard and excelled and deserves the right to choose his own path. I am sure that he will be a a great monk in his chosen religion.
Plus he’s going to skip over a lot of female relationship drama. Smart guy.
In certain countries, such as Thailand and India, it is common that boys will go through a period of training as a monk - even if they don’t expect to stay in that life.
Think of how different American society would be if a portion of our teenage boys and girls spent even a few weeks in a monastery or a convent.