Tuesday 20 March 2018

Transitioning into Transition

Chia Ewe

March 15th started like any other weekday. As usual, the incessant rings of my alarm clock greeted me as I tried to get in more winks. I tried to ignore the annoying rings but a quick glance at the time persuaded me to get ready. It was already 3 minutes past 8 in the morning, and I was still in bed. Hmmm… Not bad. Though it was a pain to get up, I managed to drag myself into the bathroom. At least it was no ordinary school day.

The school had a transition retreat planned out for the seniors. What’s so special about this? Honestly, I didn't know, but I was excited to goof off with my friends. After a quick, lazy shower, I frantically filled my drawstring bag with two pairs of clothes and an iPad charger. I rushed out the door, while hugging my shoes and iPad, and hurried to school thinking I was going to be late. I could already picture being met with a signature “Wow! Take your sweet time,” from a certain Daniel Kim (12) of Dalat International School.

When I arrived, I was shocked by the abundance of huge luggage for a one-day trip. People really don’t know how to pack wisely at all. Funny enough, I got there before Daniel and made sure he got an earful of his own words. After making a mockery of him, we met up with our friends who were already there and continued to talk for a few more minutes waiting for an announcement. Soon after, our retreat began.

It was a long and difficult road to get to our destination; at least a hundred steps before we got to our meeting room. Man, did we travel far; and by that I mean we literally went next door to Paradise Hotel. Though I was ready to just have fun, I was surprised by the common appearance of helpful advice. I may have joked about just being next door, but that aside, it was quite helpful (though I didn't know at first).


Putting aside my morning mentality and sarcastic personality, I really did appreciate that the school was looking out for us. We were allowed free time, and the lectures were interactive. It wasn't always fun, but it was a good experience.

Transitioning to the Future

Rainbow Chan

On Thursday, March 15, the Class of 2018 went on the annual Senior Transition Retreat at Rainbow Paradise Hotel. Students met at the clock tower and trekked to the hotel next door and settled in the meeting room for the first session.

The first session talked about the struggles and also benefits of Third Culture Kids. "I learned that being a TCK means that you'll fit in more quickly, but you also stand out from others," said Daniel Kim (12).

There were several more sessions throughout the day and students were given free time after lunch to both socialize and rest. Many students gathered in the meeting room to play group games, including cards, while waiting for the next session to begin.

During the session, one of the most memorable activities was the game about the importance and cost of post-secondary education, which was led by Principal Brian Brewster. The game had students do workouts to earn money and also understand the frustration of loans and low-paying jobs. "The game gave me a motivation to actually work out because of money," said Zachary Kok (12).

After several other sessions and a very filling barbecue dinner, students began the intense talk about relationships led by a group of Dalat Alumni and Staff. At the end of the day, the students went to their respected rooms and slept peacefully, awaiting the next day of sessions.

The next day after several rounds, the students got excited hearing about the topic of self-defense. Aiden Frusher (12) became the model for Mr. Bob Pagee who acted out several self-defense tactics and asked Frusher to receive them via the shield.

After the self-defense session, the students went through two more sessions before receiving one last prayer and returning back to school to try on graduation gowns. The students went into the old Jackson dorm, which had been renovated into a conference room, and they lined up in order from shortest to tallest. The room was filled with laughter as seniors realized that graduation was coming a lot sooner than they thought.


Monday 19 March 2018

A Moment of Transition

Julia Munson

It was 8:20a when the seniors gathered around the clock tower. Bags were packed and there was excitement in the air. It was finally time for the Senior Transition Retreat.

Every year, the seniors have the chance to go on a two-day retreat at Paradise Hotel. There, the seniors are told almost everything they will need to know in order to be prepared for life beyond high school.

As the seniors arrived at the hotel, which was less than a minute away from school, they were led into a room where all their meetings would be held. The first few sessions talked about grief and how to live in the world as TCKs (Third Culture Kids). Later on, there were meetings about finances, relationships, and even doing laundry. But other than the interesting sessions put on by Dalat staff, there was also some free time.

We played a lot of Korean concentration games during our free time,” said Areeya Kunawaradisai (12). “At one point, I think we had almost a third of the class playing. It was really loud and chaotic but so, so much fun. I absolutely loved it.”

“I spent my free time spending time with people I wouldn’t normally hang out with, and I think that was immensely eye-opening,” said Mika Yeap (12).

I was about 11:00 PM when the final meeting during the first day was over. Exhausted but still having a great time, the seniors soon retired to their rooms.

The next day was filled with more meetings. But all were enjoyable as many of the staff incorporated fun games and real life “simulations”.

“The self-defense session led by Mr. Pagee was very interesting,” said Hyun Ji Kim (12). “We learned about how to protect ourselves using our hands all the way to keys, although I hope none of us will ever have to face situations where we need to actually apply it.”

As the last session ended, the seniors checked out of their hotel rooms and walked back to school. After Transition Retreat, all the seniors came out with more knowledge and, hopefully, readiness for their lives outside of Dalat.

Monday 12 March 2018

Qualitea Time

Chan Woong Won

On Friday, the 9th of March, Mr. Brewster made a surprise visit to the seniors’ Bible classes. As soon as he walked into the classroom, the students asked the regular question, “who is it this time?”  Thankfully, no one was in trouble; instead, there was to be a mandatory meeting for the senior class the following Monday after X-Block.

The weekend flew by and after a long day, the seniors received a pleasant surprise. The “mandatory meeting” turned out to be a cover-up for the junior class’ invitation to the senior class for Junior Senior Banquet (JSB). During this “Qualitea Time,” the juniors served tea, cookies, and sandwiches. As Tommy Han (12) commented, “It was a really nice set-up. I could forget about school for a moment and enjoy the fact that we are seniors. I enjoyed the qualitea time!”

This event officially marked the beginning of the JSB askings. For the next couple of weeks, the topic of who to ask and who got asked will be the talk of the school. You can expect to see posters, skits, cookies, flowers, and, hopefully, smiles and hugs. Some seniors were surprised, however, at how early the askings started this year. Felix Tobias (12), at the question “Do you think the askings were early this year?”, answered, “Yeah! Felt like it was dang fast, bruh.”

This only means more excitement building towards JSB. As the biggest event of the year, and only a month away, the juniors are working diligently to prove their semester’s worth of hard work. Sam Castro (11) proudly declared, “JSB is coming along fantastically! We can’t wait to show the whole school what a great class we are. You will all love it!”

At this, Theodore Zimmer (12), who was next to him, asked, “What’s the theme this year?”

The juniors this year have done a great job at keeping the theme and the location of the JSB a secret.

The anticipation is building, and as Yigal Ang (12) summarized, “All we have to do now is wait. The waiting is also part of the fun. And while you wait, don’t forget to ask someone!”


Going Once... Going Twice… SOLD!

Rosie Shin

“500 going once… going twice... Sold!” exclaimed Mr. Karl Steinkamp to the crowd of parents and children sitting in front of the podium at the basketball court.

On March 12, the PTO organized the International Food Fair they hold annually. Once again, food stands of all kinds of delicious delicacies awaited the students and parents on the court. During this food fair, the Junior Class participated in an event to serve the community and raise money for their own Junior Class Store: Junior for Hire. Similar to the Junior Senior Banquet, as part of the Junior Class tradition, the juniors planned different activities in groups.

Starting from throwing a birthday party or a princess-themed party to tutoring children in instruments or academic subjects, the juniors prepared their unique events together. They brainstormed all kinds of ideas and then chose the ones they decided would work the best. Some of the juniors even prepared for two or more different events. On the actual day, the juniors advertised their special activities in front of the parents and waited for the parents to “buy” them. As Natasha Palanivel (11) said, “I was part of two groups in which my first group was to sell our services as a live band, and the second group was to sell our services as cleaning services.”

After the first group of juniors went up on the stage, the other groups of juniors watched and waited nervously in line for their turns. Excited murmurs buzzed around the whole basketball court whenever Mr. Steinkamp started the next round of auction. Once the next group of juniors stood on the stage, Mr. Steinkamp started counting up from RM100 until a hand no longer popped up from the crowd of families and the bidding stopped. After the group of juniors was “sold,” Mr. Steinkamp sent the group to the family who bought them; and the juniors gave the parents their numbers or email addresses.

Through this event, the juniors not only raised a significant amount of money as a class but they also experienced a different type of service besides the Servathon. As Nicholas Khor (11) said, “This fundraiser not only takes off our general funding needs, but I’m glad this experience also gave our class an enriching learning opportunity.”


Tuesday 6 March 2018

White Collars

Mika Yeap

This week marks the start of the compilation of the Eagle’s Eye, Dalat’s annual art and writing publication curated by the seniors of Miss Emily Grad’s Advanced Composition class.
The students will be using Adobe InDesign to format the publication, as they do every year, with the help of Mrs. Lydia Roberts, a seasoned graphic designer.
Before the design process begins, though, a very important aspect of the magazine needed to be settled: the title. The title serves as a theme of the class and work they produce that year, and so an all-inclusive yet meaningful theme is of paramount importance.

The selection process for this title, a discussion within the Advanced Composition class, might remain the most eventful portion of the process. During this discussion, Chanwoong Won (12) had no limit of profound ideas for the title, but to the more stable mind of Miss Grad, the staff largely in charge of the content for the magazine, his ideas left a lot to be desired.

“I think ‘Title’ would look great on the cover of the Eagle’s Eye,” Chanwoong Won (12) says.
Some students, who carry a rich history in graphic design, cannot wait for the opportunity to be part of a publication.

“After designing the JSB assets for last year as a junior, I fell in love with graphic design, and an opportunity like this where my work will be published is fantastic,” Tian Ooi (12) reports.

Tian has a significant task: designing the cover for the magazine. Working with assets from the class’ numerous talented artists, she will be in charge of the typography, layout, and feel of the most attention-catching section. As such, she takes her job very seriously.

Look out later this May for the release of the Eagle’s Eye if you’re interested in picking up a copy.  

A Senior Tribute

Natalie Ryan

Being a new student during my senior year was less of a challenge than one may assume. Many of my peers welcomed me with warm hearts and open arms. I have only been at this school for three quarters (1 ½ semesters), and I already find it very painful to say my goodbyes. This school has provided me with so many opportunities to grow as an individual, and I am proud to announce I have learned a lot. Many of my fellow seniors feel the same way, and I thought it would be a good idea to pay tribute to my grade and ask a few classmates to reflect on their senior year and life at Dalat -- so I asked them a series of questions and then added my own reflections:

What is your favourite thing about Dalat?

Sophia Ong replied, “I value the friendships I’ve made over the years -- hopefully they will be lifelong friendships.”

It is difficult to keep in touch when we all fly to separate parts of the world for university or work, but those who mean the most to us will still keep in touch.

Rahul Gill replied to this question saying, “My favourite thing about Dalat is its teachers. They are nice and compassionate.”

This quality was one of the things I first noticed when I came to Dalat. It is essential when it comes to the wellbeing of the school’s students.

Daniela Rana replied, “I love how there is so much diversity in our student body.”

This diversity allows us all to immerse ourselves in each other’s cultures and be rid of any pre-existing prejudices. Being a Third Culture Kid has its advantages.

What is your favourite memory of Dalat?

Aaron Tan answered, “Setting up JSB with my grade. It made me feel like we were a family working together on a project.”

JSB is a Dalat event I have not participated in yet, but I am excited for the opportunity to come soon.

Daniela had the same answer as Aaron, “JSB in Junior year was amazing; it is a great story to tell.”

My favourite memory was Senior Sneak. I hardly knew any of my classmates, but going to Phi Phi Island, doing service, playing group games and participating in activities allowed me to branch out of my friend group and talk to many other students.
 

What is the point of going to school and receiving an education when you don’t learn any real life lessons; so I asked my peers,
 “What is one lesson you’ve learned at Dalat that you apply to your everyday life?”

Rahul answered, “I learned that friends come and go, helping me appreciate people more.”

Being in an international, Christian school, missionary and expat families come and go -- they move around a lot. We learn to adapt to change early on and that is just something we must accept; it also helps us have more gratitude.

Daniela’s answer also really resonated with me: “I learned the importance of serving and giving to others.”

Generosity is a quality that humbles, and it is one to relish in as we receive happiness when giving to others.

What is one thing you wish you had known before you enrolled at Dalat?

Daniela and Sophia had similar answers; to paraphrase, they both said, “I wish I knew how to be involved. I wish I had joined school activities sooner.”

Joining group activities helps us bond with our peers on a different level; we get to see them on a regular basis and perhaps grow stronger long-term friendships.

Rahul wishes that “he had known ahead of time that certain words are taboo in other (non-Malaysian) cultures.” This had gotten him into a few sticky situations.

It is best not to live with regrets, but to learn from our mistakes; so I asked, What do you wish you had done differently in your senior year of high school?”

 Rahul answered, “I enrolled in the classes that interested me.”

This is a mistake many of us make: we choose classes we think we should take but not classes we want to take. Hopefully, this lesson will be helpful for our peers in the grades below us -- it is advice worth taking.

Sophia said she wishes that she had “spent more time with the people who matter the most” to her.

Paradoxically, impermanence is the only permanent thing in life; we only ever experience a moment once, so we must cherish every single one of them. This was one thing I learned this year as well.

What will you miss the most?

Each student I interviewed (Sophia, Chia Hoong, Aaron, Daniela, and Rahul) all said the same thing, “I will miss my friends the most.” It is the people that make Dalat into the accepting environment that it is. These are our last few months together, so it is a time for us all to reflect, learn, and prepare for the not so distant future ahead of us.