Staying on top isn’t easy. However, junior Evan Grisham makes it seem effortless. For him, maintaining excellent grades in difficult classes is an easy task.

“Evan is really smart, he makes everything look so easy, especially debate, ” freshman Macky Morales said. “He’s really good at explaining things to others, so that makes it better.”

Grisham has earned the highest ranking in his class for three years in a row. He takes the hardest classes and is very involved in extracurricular activities.  He participates in basketball, UIL, debate, theater and films for the football team.

“Being valedictorian is very important to me. I have put a lot of work and effort to maintain my position,” Grisham said. “I know that this work will all pay off eventually.”

Grisham has made it to state in two UIL competitions: policy debate and congress. This year was the first year Buffalo competed in congress, a form of debate. He placed third in district and competed on the state level.

“State Congress was an honor to actually get to participate in,” Grisham said. “It was against some of the best competition in the state and really pushed me to do my best and try to get better next year so I can hopefully, do better.”

Outside of school he works at First Baptist Church and plays basketball. He also shows goats through 4-H. Grisham said he spends most of his free time working on debate at home. What downtime he has is seldom spent relaxing.

“I have dedicated most of my time to working on debate currently,” Grisham said. “There’s always something new to work on with that.”