How this 14-year-old from Hyderabad is sharpening her 21st century skills with the help of one contest after another

At school, Devi Kashyap is the 'yes girl' when it comes to participating in contests or competitions. Poetry or story-writing? Sure. Debating in the MUN? Yes, please. Compete with the school's basketball team? Bring it on, she would say. So why hold back when it comes to participating in TCS iON IntelliGem? This virtual competition tests the 21st century skills of students via various contests. In fact, the 14-year-old had participated last year too. "The judge told me that I had lost out because I was too nervous. I thought that fear would drive me to do better, but it drove me crazy. So this year, I coaxed myself to just enjoy the experience and smile with dazzling confidence through it all," says the student of Meridian School For Boys And Girls, Hyderabad. She even vowed the same to her teachers. And guess what? This year, she won the contest and followed through on her promise.

Devi Kashyap | (Pic: TCS iON)

Every participant has to pick a topic and Devi picked three this time, Global Citizenship, Universal Values and Creativity and Innovation. "People think they are connected via the internet but it is our universal values that connect us. I picked Global Citizenship because, due to so many reasons, the boundaries of countries are now mere lines on a map. And creativity and innovation are what we need to evolve from today to tomorrow and beyond," explains the teenager and it is in the category of Universal Values that she won the contest. After the qualifiers and pre-finals, she had to win debates, connect the values to abstract instances and ace a question and answer round by the judges to win the title. "I feel that from every opportunity, one learns something. The 21st century is continuously changing and we need to keep up with it. Contests like this go a long way in doing so," says the youngster who was born in Bengaluru but brought up in Hyderabad.    

"In the future, I look forward to being a scientist or a chemist. I might not directly save lives, but at least I might work on developing medicines that might help save lives indirectly. I might also consider putting my public speaking skills to good use in some way," she shares. As long as she keeps saying yes to opportunities, we are sure she will go places!  

The other two contest topics were
- Communication Skills
- Financial Literacy