Risa

Jake was pretty level. His big dramatic moments were based around the horrors of wartime journalism, and how to support his friend who receded into fantasy after losing a limb in the war.

Starfleet Academy has an episode based around a prank war between school cohorts, and one of the main plot threads in the first season boils down to "omg does she like me" (so... essentially the same as every Julian episode).
On the other hand, it's got the most relatable captain (technically chancellor) to date, and possibly the strongest recurring villain ever (somehow in a character played by Paul Giamatti).

In short, I agree with you, the fact that the drama is perpetuated by teenagers doesn't detract from the Trek-ness of the show at all.

I mean the petty school rivalry, Caleb and Tarima's relationship, the sports team antics, and the like. To be clear, I also found episodes like "The Dauphin" annoying too for Wesley's teenage issues nor was I particularly into Jake's and Nog's relationship issues. The difference, I think, between DS9/TNG and SFA on this front is that for the most part, their growth is not the point of the show. SFA, by its nature, is a coming of age show, so there are bound to be teen drama and the stories about being a kid or young adult.

To be clear, my complaint is not a complaint about the quality but rather an expression of my taste. In fact, I think SFA is quite good, and I am enjoying it a lot more than I expected. Like I said, when the episode is a hit, it really is good, and the misses have been the more teen-coded "young people problems." And even then, many times it's not an entire episode but just a scene. For example, on the whole, I enjoyed "Series Acclimation Mil," but the bar scenes I found to be "my-first-drink" fare and irritating to me. To that end, there was nothing particularly bad about the scenes, they just aren't my thing.

I'll also agree that the cadets' drama is more subdued than Wesley (especially in "The Dauphin") or Jake, but they were each a single character in the show. There are a lot more cadets by the very nature of the show, so even if an individual case is more subdued, there's still more of it more regularly.

In the end, I think the show is actually really good, and I have enjoyed the scenes with the commissioned officers (especially Lura Thok!). Even the cadets themselves aren't bad; I really really like Jay-den. In general, I've never really liked YA-coded media, and SFA is an exception in that I find it enjoyable.