From debating about building a space elevator to persuading others that global warming may benefit the planet, Deven Shah (12) has done it all. As an avid debater, he has taken on many different and sometimes controversial positions. Along the way, debate spurred his critical thinking skills and enhanced his understanding of the world.

To Deven, debate has always been just a game. He disagrees with the notion that debate is a grand, formal speaking exercise.

“People think about debate as some holier-than-thou activity where two white dudes in suits talk really pompously and get out their points,” Deven said. “Debate is high schoolers chugging Red Bulls at 10 p.m. [Since] the tournament doesn’t end until midnight, they both smell, [because] they don’t have time to shower in the morning. And they probably haven’t eaten.”

Through Civil Discourse Club, a group that allows students to gather in a safe space to discuss politics, Deven discovered that meaningless debate is most likely something that is hurting this country more than it is helping.

“People say a lot of things that have no substance,” Deven said. “When you do debate, you can realize when something has no substance, and you can essentially figure out, ‘Okay, everything you just said was the same point made over and over again, just in different words.’”

Upper school history teacher Donna Gilbert, who taught Deven in his sophomore and senior years, describes Deven as a thoughtful person who carefully chooses his words before speaking out loud.

“He [is] somebody that engages in argumentation [not] for argumentation sake [but] because it matters to him — not just for sport, but to try to truly understand things,” Gilbert said.

Deven enjoys the focus and concentration that debate requires. While debating, Deven doesn’t look, do or think about anything else. Instead, he immerses himself in trying to dig deeper into the arguments that support his position.

“When I’m in the zone, I think about, ‘Okay, what is he thinking?’” Deven said. “‘What is the strategy that he’s going for? How do I counter that strategy? How do I answer particular arguments? How do I effectively allocate my prep time?’”

While competing, Deven often underestimates his success. This mindset gives him a feeling of winning something extra when he wins, whereas when he loses, he doesn’t feel surprised. In Deven’s junior year, when he went to Nationals, a large tournament that attracts high school students nationwide to compete, he had come off of a few strong tournaments. Although Deven did not start off with one of the top seeds at Nationals, he managed to win all eleven rounds, ultimately defeating the higher-ranked seeds.

“The interesting thing about winning Nationals was [that] I didn’t expect it all,” Deven said. “I’d come into that tournament thinking if I get even top eight, top four, quarterfinals, semifinals, I’ll be okay. It just so happened [that] I crushed everyone at that tournament. I did not expect to win and nobody expected me to win. But then I beat people. When I won that tournament, I was over the moon. I didn’t do any work for a couple [of] days. I was extremely happy.”

Winning Nationals is one of Deven’s biggest accomplishments in his debate career so far, which first started out in sixth grade after attending a summer program. He was instantly attracted to debate by the immense amount of research involved in the preparation.

“It was the one activity to me where it felt like the amount of preparation you did was exactly proportional to how much you win, so even if someone was way better than you, if you prepared more, you [could] beat them,” Deven said.

Deven admits that he is not necessarily always the most persuasive person, and it was one of the skills that he needed to work hard at. However, by coming up with strong, well-grounded arguments, he was able to have an advantage over his opponents.

Vayun Tiwari (12), Deven’s childhood friend, admires Deven for having the courage to speak up and stand up for himself and the ones around him.

“He isn’t afraid to have a different opinion and … to express that different opinion,” Vayun said. “So because of that, I have a lot of respect for him because he isn’t afraid of what other people will think of what he says. My favorite memory with him [is] going on walks around the neighborhood and talking about stuff. He will tell you the truth straight up, like if something is a good or bad idea and because of that, he is someone I can easily go to advice for.”

Besides helping Deven acquire research and argumentative skills, debate has also shaped the type of person he is around others: someone who can use his words in a wise and put-together manner to communicate his ideas.

Close friend Arjun Dixit (12) describes Deven as having the best of both worlds: an incredibly driven, intelligent individual but also someone that he can joke around with.

“We’re able to have some really light-hearted, comedic, everyday conversations, but at the same time, we can have some really deep, intellectual discussions all within one conversation,” Arjun said. “That makes him unique as a friend.”

Past the importance of persuasive argumentation and confident expression, Deven values the simplicity of debate above all.

“One of the things I realized [from] debate was that if you think about it as just a game and nothing more, that’s when you get the most out of it — it’s just a really fun academic game,” Deven said.