Although many students know Devon Li as an upcoming collegiate squash player, he is more than just a student-athlete. Li has spent significant time competing at the highest levels of the sport, reaching a career-high #4 in the U.S junior circuit, and he is committed to play for the Columbia University Lions at the collegiate level.
Still, Li has taken more out of high school than just an illustrious squash career. He has learned something even more valuable: perspective.
Starting in Third Form, Li had only one goal in mind: to get really good at squash and maintain a high GPA for college.
“In my freshman year, I had this ten-year plan. To get this certain ranking in squash, win these tournaments, get into this college and get these specific grades there, and then get a job and live my life out,” Li said.
This monastic life of endless athletic and academic pursuits came at the expense of Li’s social life.
“I had a list of priorities for each day. It’d typically start with squash practice before and after school, then homework, and only after that could I think about fun,” Li said.
Additionally, Li was not very social. Despite being a lifer at Haverford, having been in the school since Kindergarten, he didn’t have many friends. His ingrained mentality towards making friends didn’t help at all.
“I used to be a bit judgmental. I thought if someone didn’t help with my squash career, I had no reason to talk to them,” Li said. “Since then, I have matured. I understand people better now.”
While Li was able to keep up this work ethic for the majority of his Third and Fourth Form years, it started to crack.
“My junior year was tough. I suffered a bit from squash burnout, leading to some hard losses. I also made some pretty idiotic decisions,” he said. “My national ranking suffered. Sometimes, I felt like hanging up the racket.”
“I believe wanting to quit is completely normal. In those times, you just have to take a step back and reassess your situation.”
Devon Li ’25
This burnout helped Li reflect.
“I believe wanting to quit is completely normal. In those times, you just have to take a step back and reassess your situation,” Li said. “One quote that has stuck with me was from The Dark Knight movie: ‘Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.’”
Picking himself up was not easy, but it paid off, improving his social life while still training hard.
“I trained harder for my next event, prayed for the best, and had good results,” Li said.
After getting into college, Li has been able to do many different activities.
“I began doing some mechanical work on cars. I also started judo. Getting into college has given me more free time to try more activities,” Li said.
Li now sees success as more than just top results in a match or test.
“What I didn’t see was that a successful life is about the experiences you get and the people you meet.”
In terms of being remembered by underclassmen, Li does not want admiration.
“I’d say to look at your own path. Don’t worry about what I did or what others did. What worked for us might not work for you,” Li said.
Li’s journey through high school wasn’t just about athletic and academic discipline, but about maturity and evolving priorities.
“For a while, I lived in an endless cycle of training, performing, losing, getting depressed, then training again. However, now that I’m [admitted to] college, squash isn’t a major part of my life anymore.”
While he once saw success as a destination, he now sees it through the lens of resilience. To Li, success is not linear. It’s turbulent, with each failure serving as a chance to improve.
