3 Meter Retreat

By Georgia White

In the experience of most, a retreat takes place somewhere a considerable distance from their place of work or education. In the seniors' recent experience, a retreat could be simply three meters away from school.

At 8:25 a.m. on Thursday, February 27, 2020, the senior class embarked on the long trek to Paradise Hotel. After their arrival at 8:27 a.m., all the seniors met up in the conference room, and Senior Transition Retreat had officially begun.

The purpose of the retreat is to prepare seniors for their lives after Dalat through a series of sessions. Some of which included lessons like life as a TCK (third culture kid), the cost of college, relationships, personal finances, and self-defense. Daniel Lim (12) said, "The session that taught me the most were the ones about learning how to say goodbye. Being someone who hasn't experienced leaving a place, I think it was good for me to know what to expect when the time comes for all of us to say goodbye."

In between these sessions, seniors played many games to bond as a class and took a short break from learning. Students also had free-time to build relationships with classmates and enjoy time away from the routine of school. Some activities that students participated in were relaxing on the beach, at the pool, and playing card games in the hotel lobby. After the night sessions, before curfew, students were seen sitting in groups debriefing from the day and discussing what they thought the next day might hold.

At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, students walked back to school and met at school for graduation gown fittings. This fitting turned out to be a bitter-sweet moment. Not only did it serve to remind them of what they'd accomplished, but also that their time at Dalat was fading away. Celestine Teoh (12), "...thought that the Senior Transition Retreat put us in the mindset of expecting a big change; it reminded us that we are all in this together."

Although the distance between Senior Transition Retreat and Dalat was small, the impact it made in the seniors' lives was not.