In our latest installment of the Alumni Spotlight, we feature high school senior Dean Alamy. Dean has been an exceptional member of our debate community for seven years. He participated in the Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP) for three years and in Public Forum for four years. Throughout these years, he has exemplified his talent in the art of debate and was even ranked as the #1 Public Forum Debater in California by the National Speech and Debate Association this year. Dean explains, “Throughout high school, I have been heavily involved in speech and debate, which all started through my involvement in the OCDL as a middle-schooler.” Throughout his years in OCDL, he was co-captain of the Fairmont Prep Debate Team. Since then, he has successfully competed at various public forum tournaments, including being invited to the prestigious Berkeley Invitational. He has stayed connected with his debate alma mater, OCDL, by coaching the Brookhurst debate team, which competes in the League.
Dean explains that debate has helped him immensely even out of the classroom. He said he has “found that [his] experiences with debate and the skills [he has] picked up along the way have been integral to [his] success in and out of the classroom. Even though [his] studies focus on STEM, [he] finds that debate and the ability to speak publicly have helped allow [him] to flourish and become a more confident person.” Dean will be attending Stanford University next year as a part of the class of 2025. At Stanford, Dean plans to study bioengineering. Dean wants to relay onto other debaters that “the community I have built and relationships I’ve been able to form have created a home for me–I’ve noticed that the majority of my close friends were once opponents in a debate round.”
