Well, I like to think that we played some (small) part in this. His own family is awesome, though and all very accomplished.
I am pretty sure the "go to college" mantra he heard from us helped. What amazes me though, is his English. When he came to live with us, he had about 4 years of "school" English. Idioms were very hard for him and he walked around with a notebook, writing down everything we explained to him. I sat with him for endless nights helping him with his writing for English class. He got really frustrated, in the beginning of the year, with The Scarlet Letter. There was one line where the author talked about the guy whipping Hester Prynne. Richard didn't get what "whipping" meant. I remember saying, you know, like beating, with a rope, acting it out. And he said, "Is this sexual?" I just burst out laughing, because I couldn't imagine one of my kids saying this to someone they hardly knew.
We always laugh about the expression "get your money's worth," because we had a hard time explaining the meaning of that one.