Students, Beware of the End-of-the-year Virus

Ashley Kim

This recent week, our school has been infested with sneezes and coughs, tears and mourns. It seems that the End-of-the-year Virus we have all learned to dread has struck the Dalat community once again.

It was 9:25 AM, November 26^th, in the ES choir room. High school students sluggishly dragged their bodies to class, only to then plop themselves back into the grey couch or the carpet. Some stacked themselves upon each other, like a pile of corpses; their sunken eyes had lost their last vigor. Trudging in upon the death scene, Miss Goh frantically tried to wake the choir up by singing “I’m Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic.” And as the students sang the chorus, the supposed cheery song turned into a death anthem, “I’mmm…. alive….” *cough* “awake…” *achoo* “alerr-” *yawn* “ennnthusiastic…”

Isabel Smith (12) said, “It’s very tiring, but at least the people around me liven me up.”

Students were faced with overwhelming stress: juggling projects, tests, social life, sleep, and extracurriculars. Juniors were busy with their JSB and their store, seniors with their college applications, athletes with their games; the plate of a high schooler was overflowing. On top of that, students were challenged by the constant stimulation of social media, whose baits were hard to resist, whereupon the poor individual caved, only then to find himself procrastinating on the upcoming Bible Debate or binge-watching Shane Dawson’s Jake Paul series.

Subsequently, it was common to see students come to school with a looming air of distress, with dark circles and droopy eyelids. Some students sitting on Starboard One didn’t have the energy to socialize and buried their heads into a pile of unfinished assignments. Some students came to school with a stuffy nose and itchy throat. Amanda Low (12) said, "my coughs usually come consecutively. It’s hard to keep the volume low. I’m always agitated by distracting the class.”

Despite the situation, however, students are fighting against the virus and remaining optimistic, knowing that winter break is approaching and that they will spend Christmas in the warm comfort of their friends and families.