Post-Taiwan-ACSC

By Chris Jang

After a week-long travel to Taiwan, the boys Dalat varsity basketball team brings back 2nd place from the annual ACSC tournament. Now back in school, the boys go through mixed emotions reflecting on the whole trip and the ending of the season.

"[I'm] sad, because we now have to do school work and basketball is over," ACSC top rebounder and all-tournament team Luke Ng (12) contemplated the morning of the first day back to school. And with the senior transition retreat approaching fast, it is no wonder that Mrs. Kearney is assigning her absent Calculus BC students an encyclopedia of calculus work (although her care for her students' success is undeniable). There is no question that junior year is the busiest year of a high school student is a myth; in senior year, it is a constant race against time.

"We got to skip Mr. Riffey's class to go watch, and the Student Center would be very full and exciting -- an enjoyable break from regular school work," Mark Ho (12) noted as one of the many supporters that cheered on the Dalat teams from Penang. 

Most of the guys on the basketball team brought their laptops to Taiwan -- to keep up with school work, of course -- but as basketball starter Darryl Dwumfour (12) explained, "I was too tired playing two games a day, frankly, I forgot I even had a laptop... it was funny to see my Mac at 100% battery after the trip, even though I didn't bring a charger." It was a struggle, for students in Penang and Taiwan, to get much work done during the ACSC week.

And waking up to a warm Malaysian morning again, the whole team must go through a sudden and rough transition, only to transition again during the transition retreat. There is already a laundry list of make-up tests and assignments that only snowball with a continuous stream of new academic work, displaying the true feat and responsibilities of a student athlete.

It was and is an enduring cost, but the experience was and is truly rewarding. With the track and field ACSC also headed to Taiwan in April, it is something a student athlete can be passionate and excited for.