Started From the Bottom, Now We're Here

By Celestine Teoh

“

I still don’t feel like a senior,” said Lydia Brooks (12), sipping on a cup of Teh Ais while waiting for her lunch at Lucky 99. The seniors have obtained the privilege of eating lunch outside of campus, and every day, seniors are spotted off-campus taking advantage of this exclusive privilege. “I still feel like a middle schooler,” said Brooks. This state of mind was not only evident in Brooks, but also among other seniors, especially those who have been enrolled in Dalat since middle or elementary school and matured with their fellow classmates.

On September fourth, 2019, Dalat had an evacuation drill that dragged the whole school, students, and staff to the blue indoor court smacked in the middle of the campus. As the catchy evacuation bell rang in everyone’s ears, the various grades of the school assembled at their designated spot on the court, lining up according to their last names.

We, the Class of 2020 automatically walked towards the far right of the court, traditionally where the seniors gathered during evacuation drills. For some of us, it felt odd. It felt odd having no one above us. It felt odd that we now set the tone for high school. It felt odd that we finally acquired privileges that others do not have. It felt odd that others now look up to us.

Just a couple of years ago, we were seated in the center of the court, sandwiched by sweaty, intimidating high schoolers and noisy elementary schoolers. “It’s weird. We started out at the middle, and the fact that we finally reached the end of the court feels different in an unsettling way,” Dael Kim (12) claimed. It’s strange -- as middle schoolers, we craved the feeling of being a senior, but now that we achieved that feeling, we miss the older days.

Four weeks have passed since we stepped into our first last day of school with our light blue senior uniforms neatly buttoned and our anticipation level high. As much as we are relieved that we have finally arrived at the peak of high school, as much as we are proud to carry around the esteemed title of being a senior, as much as we are glad that we can finally leave campus for lunch, as much as we are thankful that we no longer need to plan JSB, and as much as we are excited for graduation, the truth is, being a senior is merely an idea. At the end of the day, we’re still us.