National Merit semifinalist: Green Valley senior has perspective to go with smarts

Turn to page eight of the December edition of The InvestiGator.

The Green Valley High School newspaper has an item about nationally ranked debater Jason Singh.

The senior claims he's nothing special, but when pressed, explains that he's actually ranked fifth in the nation for extemporaneous speaking, the improv of debate where competitors are given a topic about international current affairs and must provide a persuasive argument on the spot.

His PSAT score also placed him among the top 1 percent of America's high school students, making him a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship. The PSAT, co-sponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, is a standardized exam that measures critical reading skills, math problem-solving skills and writing skills.

"In terms of intellectual ability, I'm no different than anyone else," he said Thursday. "I'm just a normal kid. I wake up in the morning, eat breakfast and go to school."

He's already earned enough advanced placement credits to start college as a sophomore. Last year, he landed a Harvard Prize Book, an award that recognizes juniors who display excellence in scholarship and outstanding personal achievement in other fields. Harvard University alumni give the award annually to just 2,000 juniors around the world.

Nothing special, the full-of-surprises student maintains. His routine is ordinary. No late-night study sessions.

"I don't see the value in that," he said.

Jason didn't even go to great lengths in preparing for the PSAT last year. He just answered the SAT question of the day throughout the summer, he said. He managed to jump from a 1600 score out of 2400 his sophomore year to 2180 his junior year.

His opinion: "It's a lot more about dedication and learning the test than how smart you are."

Singh's parents weren't National Merit scholars. His father is a pilot for UPS Inc. His mom used to be a flight attendant, which is how the couple met.

The straight-A student has an intellectual match in his younger sister, Sabrina, a sophomore at Green Valley, a school known for academic excellence. It produced eight National Merit semifinalists this year, the most of any Clark County public school. All told, 89 Nevada seniors ranked among the 1,600 students nationwide who made the cut as semifinalists from a field of about 1.5 million entrants.

One thing does set Jason Singh apart from his peers: perspective.

Although born and raised in the United States, he looks at school differently than most of his peers do. He sees Green Valley High School from the outside in, not from the inside out.

It's a view he adopted as a 12-year-old after spending a day at a school in Trinidad and Tobago.

"When you compare it to here, it's nothing," said Jason, detailing the lack of running water, basic technology and air conditioning.

It's basically a turn-of-the-century classroom with a chalkboard.

"Jason turned completely red the class was so hot," recalled father Dean Singh, who at age 10 left Trinidad and Tobago to live with his father in America.

Jason often describes American schooling as a "privilege," a belief he shares with his father.

"My father has worked for everything he's gotten," Jason said. "He wasn't given a thing."

Dean and his wife, Sandra, never push Jason one way or the other on his academic choices, but let him decide for himself what to pursue.

"Don't just pick for money," Dean and Sandra tell their children. "Pick for enjoyment and you will reach that highest paid position."

And Jason knows exactly what he wants to study in college: international relations. He came to love it after spending every night keeping up to date on world news for forensics. Whatever college Jason selects doesn't matter to Dean, whether it's Duke University, Washington University in St. Louis or the University of Chicago.

"If you get into it, I'll find a way to make it happen," his father has said.

Dean Singh flies with his son around the country to national forensics competitions. They recently returned from George Mason University in Washington, D.C. Jason also has competed in Chicago, North Carolina and Florida so far this year.

No matter how much Jason asserts his ordinariness, his father knows better and supports him.

"He's really a different kid, a one of a kind," said Dean, his pride apparent as he described the family living room overtaken by Jason's awards, such as the Nevada state debate champion trophy, which is 4 feet tall.

His daughter, a junior varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate champion, also is racking up awards for the walls and shelves. Noted the father, "Everything he's done, she tries to beat him."

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.