Tangled: Never Stop Dreaming

By Anisha Kaloo

As students, specifically sophomores and seniors, struggled through a half-day of school, the only thing keeping them going was the long awaited JSB. For the first time in 3 years, following the long-standing traditions of JSB, the juniors were finally able to put together a night in celebration of the seniors, a night that was truly memorable, April 29th 2022.

Prior to the event, seniors speculated the theme: some convinced that it was Among Us and others having no clue at all. But, as we stepped into Harbor Hall and laid eyes on the awe-striking décor that adorned the walls, the theme, “Tangled: Never Stop Dreaming,” was evident. As I scoped the room I noticed the hall ornate with a starry night full of lanterns, towers overgrown with flora and fauna and Rapunzel in her tower dreaming of seeing the floating lights. Slideshows of baby pictures of the senior class were projected, and groups of people gathered around laughing and pointing in amusement.

“You can find your seat at table number 4,” the usher said to me as he lead the seniors to their respective tables. Benjamin Wong (11) and Joycelyn Fung (11) set the ball rolling with an opening speech followed by tributes dedicated to the Senior Class Sponsors. Shortly after, as we dug into our appetizers- wrapped particularly well in clingwrap- we watched the juniors reenact scenes from the Disney film Tangled. “Being a part of the process of hosting JSB made it more rewarding on the night and seeing how everything came together was really satisfying,” says Dominic Cheang (11).

In and amongst the skits and the various delicious meals, the juniors also presented senior tributes that ranged from being emotional to “legendary” Tian Xiang Hwang (11). After a senior’s tribute was read, the junior would hand them a goodie bag which had a pan with Rapunzel’s favorite recipe attached to it and a scroll with the full version of their tribute printed.

To top it all off, the juniors ended the night with a village dance which a large group of us learned right after in the basketball court. Kaitlyn Ladner (12) said, “It was fun dancing cause I like line dancing and it was kind of similar. It was fun doing it all together cause it was a nice sense of normal school."

Last Basketball Game

By Wayne Khor

This series of our Senior scribble has finally come to an end, and it was an incredible journey. In this last senior scribble, I will be talking about our last senior vs. staff basketball game. 

This event is the first event; Dalat has hosted a game in over two years on the Steinkamp court. It was great to get back there and have one last game with my former teammates and brothers. As the game progressed, so many events happened, giving the audience a chance to win prizes, cheerleading by the seniors, and a very competitive game played between the staff and the seniors. 

A senior player in this game, Tawan Teekaariyapak said, "The sequence when Eugene, Mr. Wong, and Wayne made (3) three-pointers back to back is my favorite moment from the game." 

In that basketball game, many have their favorite moments, and this is what one of our formal varsity players said. I haven't felt the people's energy in Dalat as we returned from lockdown, but on that day, it was a full house with so many people cheering and being so alive; it was a surreal experience. 

Basketball has been one of the most important sports during my time in Dalat. I have learned so many life lessons throughout my journey in this sport. I learn to understand when to be competitive and when not to, I have learned that "hard work always beats talents" (Kevin Durant), and finally, I have learned always to appreciate the moments you run up and down the court because you will never know when your lasts will come. I am sure it has been a blessing for anyone who got to play or attend the game to appreciate Dalat Basketball one last time before we leave for college.

The Love for Good Food

By Dylan Chew 

As the smell of tea and the chattering of friends filled the cozy, coffee house, I rolled my dice and moved my token forward on the knock-off version of the Monopoly board. “Yeah, I’ll join for dinner,” 

As a last-minute plan, I joined for bowling with a group of friends. We were all very excited and dressed up for warmth as it gets cold in Penang Bowl. We arrived at 5pm, but to our first of many disappointments, it was packed and we couldn’t get any lanes for bowling. 

However, we did not give up on our plan to hang out, so we decided to go to Nook, a suggestion by Yong-Yu Huang (12), a bookstore/coffee shop. We flocked around a long table and spent our time playing card and board games. I decided to join in for the fake French Monopoly, at which I did not win. 

As the clock ticked to 19:00, we headed towards a town favorite dining place, Holy Guacamole. People in the car, Josh Peek, Niko Bernhardt, Ryan Chan, Yong-Yu, Lana Brewster, and Chris Ooi (12), all were starving and craving for some good Mexican food. 

“I was not invited,“ Gabe Kontsas recently commented. 

But again we were to be disappointed since it was fully booked for the evening. In our last attempt to save the night, we lifted our heads high and crossed over the street in order to find a place that could take us in. We passed by a bougie Italian-looking restaurant and it caught our attention. I walked in and had my doubts in the food quality since they had disco balls and cat pictures all over the place but I was proven wrong. The first taste of pumpkin soup and we were in. It brought us delicious pizza and a very solid roast chicken. 

In an attempt to describe the beef pepperoni pizza, Josh said, “‘The Tavern’ is what the ‘Don Corleone Pizza’ should be.” 

In the end, “The Tavern” saved our night and brought a fulfilling ending to our day. 

End of AP Season

By Helen Jang

The ‘AP Season’ storm has finally passed, and students are recovering from the damage. 

There are reports of worn-out bodies and walking-dead zombies spotted around the Dalat campus. Students show symptoms of ‘sleeping in class’ and ‘talking nonsense that makes no sense.’ Students have no motivation to study for other classes, barely submitting assignments before the due date, and some get arrested into NFL. These students were diagnosed with post-AP exam burnout and are currently recovering at the hands of the Dalat staff. If one of these students is spotted, a simple candy or a treat could help them recover from their post-exam PTSD.

On the other hand, there were sights of overly lively students who were liberated from the chains of College Board. Starting from watching movies in AP classes to reading chill books in class, students no longer have to inhale caffeine to study for ‘The Exam.’ Students now have time to enjoy sports, which was seen in Friday's Senior vs. Staff volleyball match. More students are now spending time with their friends and playing basketball at lunch, and hanging out in malls with friends. 

I interviewed one of the Senior AP students, Sue Grice (Gr. 12) how she felt after the AP season was over: “I think I speak on behalf of the students when I say, ‘a huge burden has lifted off our shoulders because of the APs.’” For sure, students are relieved that a significant storm they have prepared for the last year has been finished and out of sight.

The wrath of being a student hasn’t ended yet, unfortunately. Seniors have to wrap up all their classes and work for graduation, and the 9th, 10th, and 11th-grade students are preparing for the Final Exam. The life of a student continues to torment these young adults, but the time is worth it; these students will one day become great people how God has planned them. I pray for the well-being of all these students and the time in front of them.

Rubber Band Madness

By Sabrina Yeoh

On Monday, May 9th, 17 MILLION rubber bands had taken over New York (Harbor Classroom 302) situated on Harbor’s third floor. 

As the first bell rang, signaling the start of A-block, the Mr. Thompson Rubber-Band Birthday Surprise mission started. The Journalism students and Juyoung Kim (12) began the assault by pouring bags of rubber bands around New York. But as the tenth graders came into New York with bags of orange rubber bands during the passing period before B block, Mr. Thompson, the owner of New York, realized that this would continue all day. Soon, New York was covered with ORANGE RUBBER BANDS everywhere. 

As Mr. Thompson commented: “I initially tried to clean up the rubber bands from my desk, but I stopped trying when I realized MORE rubber bands would be coming in every 45 minutes.” 

The attack continued during the passing period before every block that Mr. Thompson had a class.  As a result, the classroom had become Rubber Band Wonderland. For the rest of the day, students in New York struggled to listen as the rubber bands were too tempting to be played with and shot across the room–it was a tough day to teach. 

Finally, free from the rubber bands’ attack, Mr. Thompson ate his lunch on his rubber band-flooded table and he decided to grade his AP English Language and Composition students’ essays. As he was stressing about how to provide the appropriate comment for his student’s essay, a knock broke his concentration. Instead of more rubber band attacks as he expected, he was greeted with “Happy Birthday to you...” His frown turned into a smile. Cecelia Sheng (12) entered the room with a cake with three blue candles accompanied by Grace Chung (12), and I singing the Happy Birthday song, and Adelynn Tan (12) filming the surprise that I had planned. As we were enjoying the cake, Mr. Steinkamp, as instructed, came into the room with a bag of rubber bands to pour all over Mr. Thompson’s room. Apparently, not only students were part of this mission, but six teachers, including two administrators, were involved.

During Mr. Thompson’s AP X-block, instead of giving his AP Lang. students the final preparation for their test the next day, it became a “How to Make a Rubber-Band Ball” and “Rubber-Band Clean-up” X-block. While he was giving his rubber band balls tutorial, Anna Phuah (11) came in with a chocolate cake with a firework candle. The juniors gathered around to celebrate his birthday and even asked him to blow out the firework candle (which is impossible), but he believed it and blew it thrice–almost burning his beard. 

As the last bell rang, the Mr. Thompson Rubber-Band Birthday Surprise mission had come to a successful end. But it didn’t actually end in New York. As Mr. Thompson walked to his car, he was greeted by an unexpected rubber band tied onto his car handle. It was the perfect last touch by me to end the rubber band madness. 

 

Rubber Band Tied onto Mr. Thompson’s car, Photo Credit: John Dale Thompson

A Very Demanding Week

By Sue Grice 

How can you tell when the first week of the nail-biting AP exams has begun? Typically, you would overhear students asking each other questions such as, "What days and times are your exams on?" or "How much did you study?" Depending on who they are, you'd also see them buried in their four to 115 pages of review notes while walking around campus. Additionally, some other students try to re-learn the entire semester or year's worth of their AP class/es by watching one 28-minute video the day before the exam. Despite all these differences everyone has with their studying methods, everyone should take on what they feel is mentally comfortable for them. There is more than one good way to review for an exam.

Unfortunately, some students may feel dispirited after finishing an AP exam. I have experienced this feeling before as someone who has taken multiple of these. Perhaps they feel this sense of disappointment because they regretted not studying enough, which made answering the exam questions harder. I hope that those who did put in their best effort to review know that that was good enough, and they should be proud. Although the student cannot go back and change how the exam went, they can use this disappointment as a goal to improve for the future (for sure, easier said than done).

Seeking advice from your peers on how to improve in your APs is an essential aspect of getting the score you want on the exam. Your peers have been through the same mocks and classes as you; they may pick up on things you haven't.

I recently asked one of my good friends, Soo Qiao, a senior, for some advice regarding APs and other exams. Here's what she told me: "Don't wait until the last minute to review or study for the exam because it's going to affect your habits and grades. Whenever you take an exam, always remember to relax and never stress yourself out, or you might lose focus."

For the future AP testers reading this, please take note of this advice. It may seem repetitive to hear, but if it means you will take care of your mental health, then this is crucial information. I completely understand how important an AP is for college or university admissions, etc. But, crushing your mental state because you allowed your exam mistakes or the belief that you didn't give your best effort (when you did) to torment you is not worth it. There will be other opportunities for you to achieve your end goals in the future. If your mind crumbles now, you will never reach any of them.

Tangled Turned Tangoed

By Kaitlyn Ladner

JSB is an event that high schoolers and staff members waited to attend, especially since Dalat has not had one since 2019. Just for one night, people can dress up and not have to worry about academics. Though JSB is a vital night, the main topic of this article will be after-JSB, where the juniors are honored for the work they have done. 

Many seniors met up in the Vintage Chapel on that Saturday morning to plan for the night's event to honor the juniors. After more people came, they started the meeting by spitting ideas on how to spoof their JSB. Seniors came up with the idea of "Tangoed: Never Stop Dancing." 

,Seniors dispersed into three groups decoration, food and entertainment. Seniors were off to go pursue their duties in their committees. Some were chopping food for the food that night, which was tacos. The deco team went to Harbor Hall, where JSB was held and used the decorations for after-JSB. The entertainment committee was in the computer lab brainstorming ideas for the act. 

Since After-JSB is a spoof of what the Juniors did, they had to devise certain things to make good fun of what happened the night before. The decoration team made "unwanted" posters of each junior and sponsor because the juniors made "wanted" posters for JSB. The deco team also saran wrapped their appetizer because the appetizers in JSB were overly wrapped. The entertainment committee was able to spoof many things that happened at the event. A few other things that were spoofed were done in the skit performed for entertainment. For example, when making the play or the entertainment, they swapped the characters' genders.  

Since the whole night was full of memorable moments, Joycelyn Fung (11) was asked what her favorite was; she said, "We were all in tears from laughing so hard, and I loved all the spoofs. But if I had to pick a favorite, it might just have to be "But daddy, I want to go to Tangocon!" 

As the night went on, both the senior and junior class enjoyed the night full of laughter and tears of joy.  

Haha Biker Go Vroooom

By Taylor Johnson

During senior year, more options for how to get to school are available to students than in any year prior. Many seniors have passed their drivers exams and started driving themselves to school, while others prefer to carpool or to be dropped off by their parents. There is an option besides driving however, that those who choose it form a strong bond with: biking. 

Students who prefer to bike to school cite many different reasons for their choice, which reflects the wide variety of benefits biking offers. Biking is a chance to enjoy the morning sunshine, wake yourself up from the morning blahs, and feel the thrill of speed. On days where road traffic is packed to a standstill, it is extremely gratifying to be able to rush past all the cars completely unaffected. Being able to bypass traffic and take shortcuts that cars are unable to often means that biking to school can be just as fast an option as driving.

For some students, driving to school would be a completely valid option but they simply take joy in riding itself. When asked why he chose to bike to school every day, Ethan Chan (12) simply remarked “It is fun,” neatly summarizing how many Dalat bikers feel about their commute.

Another aspect many bikers enjoy is the community and company of other bikers they bump into along the way. Shortcuts and favorite routes often cause Dalat bikers to run into each other along the way, giving them a chance to catch up with friends and have a little fun in the morning. After school, students will often end up biking home in groups as everyone is let out of classes and x-blocks at the same time, leading to spontaneous conversations and hangouts in a very organic way. Some students choose not to bike home straight away but rather to keep cycling around for a while just to hang out with their friends. 

For others, biking is a chance to ready themselves for the day and ease into the school day. “I really like biking to school just because it’s a bit of time in which you get to clear your mind and prepare yourself for the day,” says Tim Santiago (12), “[It] forces you to take a little breather and just get your mind together.” Getting to school on a bike requires waking up and an alert mind, but the rhythms of the riding and of taking well-known routes to school also create a meditative time to reflect and slow down. Biking allows students to have a protected moment of their day to think, pray, or relax and that is an invaluable thing to have to be able to survive the mornings gracefully.

Whatever their personal reason, biking allows Dalat students to maximize their commute, transforming it from a mere necessity or hassle, into a valuable and fun part of the day.