Death and Beyond

By Dora Liu

An intense game of Senior Assassin began on the 21st of May. The rules were simple: kill your assigned target with a water gun or sock bomb to acquire their target, and survive the week while killing as many players as possible. 

While classrooms were mostly off-limits, students thought up creative ways to lure their target out of safe zones. Common tactics included alliances, betrayal, and deception; some players even went as far as waiting by or inside their targets’ houses, doing everything they could to win the game.

As the week went by, the number of players dwindled daily as more seniors were assassinated. But what happens to their ghosts?

Many were frustrated they didn’t make it through the week. “I was dead before I even realized,” said Heeeun Bang (12), the first-ever player to be assassinated on Tuesday morning. “There was no time to process anything, only the fact that I’d been killed before the first block even started.” 

Another player, Anric Chin (12), really wanted to have a go at his target but was unfortunately eliminated. “I hate that I died because my target was someone that I have history with.”

Other ghosts turned against their assassins, wanting to avenge their own deaths. “I need him dead, Dora. I mean it. I believe in you,” said Savanna Choi (12), who died on Saturday due to an unexpected ambush at the Garage Sale. 

Despite all the tension, some deaths were surprisingly peaceful. Due to the high stress of the game, some players began to offer themselves up to be eliminated. “I gave up the game as it was stressful and agitating as I knew who my killer was and I had to wear layers of “protection” to keep myself alive on a hot and stuffy day. After ‘suiciding’ I felt so much lighter, and enjoyed watching others in the gameplay,” said Emma Yeap (12).

A dead player may seem harmless, yet they can be the most dangerous. To get closer to her target, Joyce Wan (12) faked her death with the help of Savanna Choi (12) by splashing water on her back and announcing her “death” publicly. The point was to trick Joyce’s target into believing they were safe from her and make a move when they least expected it. 

Fortunately, there are no rules governing the actions of players who are already dead. Ghosts can choose to speak about their deaths openly, help or sabotage the remaining players, and even pretend to be alive. Thus, dead players can still play an important role in the game by meddling from the outside, acting as communicators, diplomats, informants, and, at times, meat shields. I was fortunate enough to receive the help of many dead players throughout the week, and I know I wouldn’t have made it to the last day if it wasn’t for them. I hope everyone had fun as they influenced the game from the shadows. 

Witnesses of the Assassination

By Ha-Eun Jeon

As stressful AP exams come to a close, clean sock bombs and water guns come into play. 51 seniors armed with floaties, goggles, life jackets, and other swim equipment set foot on school grounds. Their mission? Try to assassinate their given target and survive for a week without getting assassinated. 

On May 21, 2024, the awaited game of “Senior Assassin” started. Elaborate plans, silent sabotages, and unexpected betrayals transpired here and there as the seniors scrambled to eliminate one another. However, some seniors watch from the sidelines, not participating in the game. What happened to them? Where did they go? Were they assassinated beforehand?

Some seniors forgot to sign up, missing the deadline at 8 PM. Many expressed regret, but surprisingly, they all managed to get involved and enjoyed their time. 

“I actually had quite a lot of fun watching people get shot. Since I’m not anxious about getting shot, I can wear goggles as a fashion item. I can also shoot underclassmen and not get disqualified,” exclaimed Yeon Soo Kim (12), who at first felt remorseful, but thankfully, it was short-lived due to the creative ideas she came up with to spend her week. 

Hopping on the forgetfulness train, Jason Cho (12) stated, “I thought it was pretty funny that seniors were taking this really seriously. Seeing my classmates in floaties and water guns really made me laugh, and I also joined in on the water fights after school, which was really fun.” 

Although they couldn’t physically play the game, watching everything unravel from the sidelines became its own kind of entertainment for these seniors. 

Along with the forgetful seniors, we have the seniors who willingly chose not to participate in the game. The overwhelming amount of mind games and chaos drew many introverts away from the assassination. 

Abbi Rinkenberger (12) acknowledges, “Senior Assassin was chaotic but entertaining to watch. I enjoyed not turning on my phone 24/7 and wearing odd gear, but it was fun to see how invested the seniors were in planning and attacking their targets.” 

Another introverted senior, Yuna Lee (12), states, “Watching it unfold was really chaotic and enjoyable. The length that these people go through to get the kills shows the strong determination some of my classmates have.” With this opportunity, the seniors were able to witness the different sides of their classmates and bond together.

The seniors who didn’t participate found different ways to enjoy the moment, making the different perspective memorable. From the battleground of APs and lack of sleep to the battleground of water guns, clean sock bombs, and pool equipment, the seniors finish off their last battle. Ending the year with a chaotic week of semi-drenched underclassmen, slippery stairs, random puddles, and jumpscares.

The AP Marathon

By Savanna Choi

The ten-day marathon of AP exams finally drew to a close. The now-lowered finish line, which seemed once miles away and another time chokingly close, is now smothered in jumping footprints, empty RedBull bottles, dried-up contact lenses, and ashes of burnt practice exams. 

This marathon strikes a different experience for seniors than the adorably nervous sophomores or the pitifully anxious juniors. Seeing another finish line of graduation right behind the finish line of APs, the urge to limbo the first one and skip to the next consumes our being in the name of senioritis. With this inverse supply of AP difficulty and motivation, seniors literally had to drag their soulless bodies and fingers to the AP Classroom if they hadn’t given up already. As we got closer to May, more and more seniors began to disappear from campus in the false hope of studying at home like we once did as juniors. The local coffee bean has never seen such a crowd with a collective dark circle length longer than their tallest cups yet somehow ignorantly joyful. 

“Studying for AP Biology gave me a greater appreciation for life, but not for my life,” said Cullno Mah (12), an infamous biology student. 

“Savanna, Joseph and I had a three-day-long AP Calculus BC grind just to play more video games than FRQ practices,” said Douglas Koay (12), a fellow AP Calculus BC warrior. 

“We were best prepared for the AP Literature exam by watching the marble races where the blue marbles cheered in the stands, allowing us to imagine those blue marbles cheering for us this time during the exam,” said Sam Owen (12), a triple-English honor student. 

“I felt pretty calm before the AP Statistics exam but the exam tired me so much that I just wanted to sleep”, said Aidan Leong (12), a violation of the normality assumption. 

We have been annual participants of this AP marathon, some as sprinters and some as long-distance runners. The reward of completion was relief for most, but also with nostalgia for the graduating class. This was our last “AP season,” bidding farewell to not only AP Daily videos, AP internet forums and communities, and beloved YouTube lecturers, but to the friends we went to the Hillside Starbucks with and the friends we found to be already there, discussions of homework questions in study halls, the exasperated FaceTime calls and desperate messages asking for guidance between each other, group chats calling for group study sessions, and the teachers we would consult together. We have been in this marathon together longer than we think—the ten days of exams merely manifest our collective experience. 

The senior class now enters the golden overlap of time between the end of APs and graduation where academic pressure finally ceases, facing the end of a longer run, the twelve-year marathon. Switching the battleground from the land of all-nighters to the land of water guns, seniors arm themselves for their final fight, walking around campus one last time as the warriors that they are, residing in each other’s company for ten more days like we’ve been doing so for years. 

AP Season Comes to an End

By Aurelia Bernier 

“Aurelia! What are you doing for lunch today?” asked Alexia Nyul (12) on Monday, the 20th of May at 10:07 am. 

A sentence I have not heard since the start of AP season, the week after JSB (May 3rd), as everyone I knew either ordered in or had a test. After the juniors’ interesting masquerade-themed banquet, where we had breath-taking, eye-opening, and mind-boggling performances by Pope Marcus Lim (11), Opera-Singer Daniel Willoughby (11), Weird-Queen Kiera Nichols (11), Dancing Porkchops (Micah Pickett (11), Romeo Kontsas (11), Ting-Yi Huang (11), Sean Lee (11), Jason Choi (11), Andrew Tan (11), Darnell Dwumfour (11)), and many more, the AP grind started with only two days to spare until the first test: AP Chemistry. 

Having taken it online last year, I was interested to hear the array of opinions and techniques this year’s students have learned with Dr. Schmidt. Some felt prepared for the test while others heavily under (but that’s what happens with every test, anyway). After taking the test, Leyla Lee (12) remarks, “I’m glad there was no experimental design on it; I wouldn’t have been prepared for that. All the hard work definitely paid off!” 

This year’s last test at Dalat was AP Physics 1, which happened on the morning of May 17, a school holiday! Alicia Lim (12), who took the test she has prepared the whole year for says, “It honestly went better than expected. I did my 5 dance before, so let’s hope that works.” 

For those taking AP Calculus BC, we are all fully aware of Alicia’s infamous 5 dance–a form of manifestation for a score of 5/5 on any AP, where one puts their hands in the air with fingers sprawled to make a ‘five’ and moving their hips to the tune “five, five, five, five, five, five, five…” A combination of this, as well as a handshake from Jia Ru Sim (12), was what many of the seniors exercised before this afternoon's test. 

Compiling the post-testing thoughts of students; this year was definitely a year where topics that were usually present/expected on the FRQs, ended up not even being tested (except for in AP Stats); a huge relief for many! In those specific classes, with nothing else to do now, projects and experiments have been assigned. 

To celebrate the end of AP season, the senior class had an outing to Escape on Saturday the 18th. Trecking the third level of monkey business, clogging the water slides, riding world records, and participating in diving and banana-flip competitions, our class had a great ending to the stressful week beforehand. Lee Yee Tan (12) describes her time that Saturday as “Fun! But also scary, as I got stuck in the middle of the long zipline, where I had to be rescued by the staff. Ugh!” 

With only seventeen days left until graduation, the senior class of 2024 is planning many fun and exciting activities to end the year on a good note. The next and most anticipated one being Senior Assassin. Get ready to see the seniors in floaties, and maybe even underclassmen, drenched!

Golfing AP Statistics Away

By Leyla Lee

As we approach the end of high school and everyone has finished with AP exams, Mr. Kilgo, the AP Statistics teacher, takes his class on a golfing simulator trip to Gurney Paragon. A few days before the trip, Mr. Kilgo took the class up on upper field to practice some golf club swings.

As everyone stood in a line, he laid yellow cones about ten meters away from the line and had us aim the golf balls at them. With no surprise, the golf balls flew in every direction, and standing in that line was not even safe. Although some people managed to hit the yellow cones and cheered like they had won the lottery, they were lucky shots by the way they swung their golf clubs. The class had a special guest, Mr. Knutson, a high school teacher of many great classes, who came in with a glove on his hand and swung the golf club like a pro with nothing but talent! No one there could describe the impressiveness Mr. Knutson showed.

On the following Monday afternoon in May, Mr. Kilgo’s class had the privilege of skipping the second half day of school, and off they went to Paragon. The class had an hour to grab a bite of lunch by the food court before they were ready to use their whole bodies to give full-blown swings into a flat screen. Mr. Kilgo had split the class into teams for a competition to see who could hole putts with the fewest strokes. 

First, we started with practice rounds, and practice rounds…. and practice rounds… and more practice rounds…? We never got to the competition. Mr. Kilgo had intended us to keep statistics of our strokes and putts, but I guess he thought we were so bad at golf that he had forgotten about the competition. 

Even though we were all excited to see who was the best or worst golfer in the class, we all had fun at the golfing simulator. Kyra Brewster (11) said, “I had a great time learning to golgf and getting the swing of things. It was a nice break from a heavy year of work in AP Statistics, and I enjoyed learning a new sport.” 

The day ended with great pride in the swings some could do or boredom in those who were not bothered. In the end, the class got to experience one of Mr. Kilgo’s great after-AP exam field trips.

War is Over!

By Jason Cho

Advanced Placement classes have always been present since the start of high school. But this year, the Ap exams hold more pressure than ever with some seniors needing high scores for their university. This years preparation for Ap exams have never been so intense. With students studying so hard until they their nose bleed. But now they are all finished. And with the Ap exams gone, so were the stress and pressure. All they could do now is wait for their scores.

Advanced Placement classes are classes that hold a rigorous coursework in comparison to normal classes. And the main goal of students taking this class is to take the Ap exam during May. In order to pass the exam students must work to get a score of three or above. Most universities/colleges accept a score of four or five, depending on their syllabus. The exam takes about three hours to complete it. With different sections covering the exam. In order to prepare the student for the rigor, teachers pour out practice exams and mock test’s to tone the students for the upcoming obstacle. 

Some of my friends who are heading to the UK for their university was particularly more stressed and pressured, as they needed a certain score in order to be fully accepted into the university of their choice. I respect these guys as they were upholding this pressure in amidst of senioritis and burnout. Studying for AP’s was not an easy task. With so much material to cover, time was always against the students. But despite this they gave up weekends and hangouts in order to battle against the massive exam that was ahead of them. 

Then it came, exam week. The exam took place over two weeks of school, with morning and afternoon sessions. Students relentlessly finished their test and gave a sigh of relief. Finally it was done. The test that have been grabbing them by the leg has been taken care of. All they could do now was wait for their scores, which will be coming out in July. 

Cullno Mah (12), one of the seniors who took three AP tests, stated, “I feel good. I feel confident I got triple fives and am happy Ms. Goh got us snacks. I was also happy that many teachers were very supportive of us during this time of hardship. Now that it’s really over, I feel satisfied with all the hard work I put into my AP classes. Let’s go!” 

With months of preparations and rigorous coursework, the AP classes/exams were finally over. The pressure that comes with this year’s AP exams were particularly high as some of the students depended on the score. The AP exams this year gave mixed emotions. But one thing was for certain. They all tried their best and war was over! Now as graduation dawns and classes become more loose, they could relax and have fun. I wish the best for their AP scores and I hope they get the score they deserve! 

Slaying the Dragon

By Yun Kil

The chatter of nervous students filled the air on the second floor of the CASTLE. Some were talking to their friends in anticipation, others for relief. Most however, were frantically trying to get in some last minute studying to ensure they were well versed on every single piece of information on the study guide. I was one of these many, scrolling through my phone to make sure there wasn’t a section I was unfamiliar with. It was AP week, and I was getting ready to take my AP Psychology exam.

As I stepped into the test room, I was asked to turn over my phone to the proctor and to leave my water bottle outside. Once doing so, I sat down and the proctor handed me my test packets. After a series of instructions and essentials, the MCQ exam finally began. As I read over the questions and filled in the circles however, my mind became increasingly blank. The test seemed to be significantly harder than the mock! I was at the 70th question when the proctor announced there was only 10 minutes left to complete the test. Panicking, I rushed through the remaining 30 questions, and just as the timer hit zero, I filled in the last remaining circle before hurriedly putting down my pencil.

After the hour-long FRQ section was over, I and the rest of the students hurried out of the exam room to return home. Most students found themselves taking the entire day off after an AP exam to destress and prepare for the next. AP Psychology was my final one, and it was 3 in the afternoon so I decided to go home early and take a nap.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of finishing your final AP. As soon as you put down the pen, a mix of relief, adrenaline, and exhaustion fills your body and it seems like the weight of the world was carried off your shoulders. Upon finishing his final AP, a relieved Samuel Jung stated, “AP week was very stressful and anxiety filled. I feel relieved that I got it over with!”

AP exams were a right of passage as we carried on with the rest of the year. What was a stressful two weeks of studying and preparations all paid off as the students of high school completed the milestone that is AP exams and the end of the year cleared into sight.

Wombat Stew and Cheer Up Chicken

By Packia Alagu Nagarajan

The Theater Arts class has spent the whole semester preparing to perform two plays to the elementary school. Both the plays were originally written as books and it was part of the class to turn those books into an enjoyable play for the kids. We spent a whole quarter of the class figuring out sound effects to use for all the howling wolves and growling bears, and the interval music. We also spent the other quarter of our class, cutting patterns, sewing bits together, unsewing and adjusting our costumes for the plays. For most of us in the class, this was the first time that we’ve been involved in any sort of acting so it was relatively hard to project our voices and be confident. However, with Ms. Geiman’s help, all of us were able to do well during the performance.

Wombat Stew started out in the outback of Australia, with a happy dingo trying to cook a wombat. To help the wombat from being eaten, all the animals of the forest come in to add inedible ingredients such as mud, feathers, slugs and bugs, flies, and gumnuts to the stew which poisons the dingo when it tastes the stew. In the end the animals end up saving the day and the wombat. 

Alyssa Kwok (12), a senior who acted out the role of the dingo, says she enjoyed being able to make the children laugh and be cheerful: “Of course, I can do that with any other role, but because I’m such a main part of the play, it’s almost up to me to make sure the children are happy. Since I love children so much, I wanted to make them smile and that was my highlight.” 

Cheer Up Chicken is the other play that we acted out. It’s a great book with Christian values that encourages children to think about others and teaches them about the concept of “passing it forward.” This book starts off with a visitor offering a live chicken to Father Gregory and instead of cooking and eating it, he passes on the chicken to a sick tinker who then passes it to a little girl whose dog had just passed away and she passes it to the beggar woman down the street who ends up giving the chicken back to Father Gregory. This book shows how the kindness you put out into the world always has a way to return back to you. This play required us to memorize more lines and cues, which were given out by the narrator throughout the play.

One person in our class had volunteered herself to be the narrator for both stories despite the fact that she was also involved in the HS drama production. Limey Chhor (12), says, “The key to manage DOZENS of lines is to know what is being spoken before your line. Reacting and moving to your own speech is just as important as reacting to other people's lines. Your character just comes alive through you once you put on your costume. It's like wearing another person's life. When I put on the safari outfit, I suddenly knew everything there is to know about this narrator I'm playing like where they go for work, what their life is like, what they had for breakfast earlier, etc. It's what makes drama interesting to me and possibly to others too.” She has done an awesome job at narrating the plays for this class as well as the HS drama production for this semester.

This class has taught us all the behind the scenes of a drama production on a relatively small scale in terms of our audience and the length of our plays. We all felt rewarded when we found out that we influenced the kids so much that they went to the library after the play and wanted to borrow the books that we recreated. If this doesn’t show the success of the play, then I don’t know what does!

The Hot Evening of Venice

By Yeonsoo Kim

As soon as the bell rang, the seniors ran out of their last classes to prepare for their last JSB - the Venetian Masquerade. Since it was a half-day, five hours was not enough to look their very best; we were all running out of school to get our hair and makeup done. On the other hand, the Juniors were all busy trying to prepare the perfect Masquerade for the seniors. Both grades were busy in their ways.  

By 5:30 p.m., the school was no longer flooded with tired zombies but with stunningly dressed ladies and neat gentlemen. Friends gathered together; they were busy taking group photos. Dates exchanged gifts that each of them had prepared. On the Harbor Hall stairs, grade photos were taken to cherish that moment. 

“It was really hot. I just couldn’t wait to go inside to feel the aircon- and see the decorations of course,” said Dora Liu (12). Despite the hot weather of Penang, smiles could be seen everywhere with a lot of flashes. People were posing for the camera to post on social media - and some for the parents. It looked like some took pictures after their shower, they were drenched, while others took a light shower. 

One by one, people started entering the hall. People were awed by the Hall of Venice - it was beyond expectations. “I honestly didn’t really expect much when I first heard the theme, but the Juniors pulled it off well. Their entertainment was super funny, and I was dying of laughter during the show,” said Aileen, Kim (12). The decorations were amazing, but the entertainment was the highlight of that night.  

Such A Spectacular Evening!

By Alyssa Kwok

Cars drove up to the school entrance, waiting in the long queue, and when I finally came down from my car, I saw a beautiful sea of vibrant colors from all the outfits people were wearing: blue, black, red, green, and purple. Everyone happily chatted, complimenting each other and giving hugs all around. The crowds of parents, cameramen, and friends surrounded everyone with their phones and Canons, blinding me with flashy clicks of the cameras.

Although I’ve been to JSB three times in my years at Dalat, it always amazes me how JSB can put me in awe and yet make me feel shy and self-conscious. I felt excited about the entertainment, the delicious food, and, most importantly, spending quality time with my friends every year. However, I felt shy about how beautiful everyone was, and I felt out of place. Soon we were all pushed and called onto the front of the stairs for a Class of 2024 group photo. Seeing the picture of all of us together, I could not have been more proud to have been part of such a fantastic group of people, and it makes me tear up, realizing that I soon won’t be able to see them again, possibly ever.

Pushing that sad thought out of my head, I held my head high and smiled big, thrilled to see what else the night had in store for us. I was pleasantly surprised with all the carefully planned decorations where antique frames held all our pictures, golden fake feathers at every table, and counterfeit candles beaming brightly while moving to the wind and music, proud to be part of such an important event. Dinner was ready after Act 3 of the play: large meatballs, pasta, and pizza bread with spaghetti bolognese. Lights got dim again, and it was time to continue the play: mystery, murder, and comedy of slaps, roasts, and accents combined. In the mixture of laughing, gasping, and feeling proud of all the juniors had done, it was hard not to beam and shout, “THANK YOU, JUNIORS!” or “I know that junior!”

Interludes between the play were for tributes, and I cannot describe the feeling I felt when I saw people from my class being talked about and hearing all the touching things shared about them. Nothing can prepare you or make you feel prouder until it’s your JSB. When the evening ended and photos were taken, it was a bittersweet moment. The night I had waited for since I saw my first JSB had finally ended and taken its place, and I was unsure how I felt about it. So, instead, I went home, tired from all the excitement and interaction, got ready for bed, and lay in bed, thanking God for such a spectacular evening and putting me in a grand palace called Dalat that will always impact me today and forever.

Passing the Baton

By Kate Lee

It was the Tuesday right after the Varsity Sports Awards when Senior Night for Varsity Track and Field was held (23rd April). Unlike other varsity sports, it was a historic night, because it was the first time in Dalat history with a senior night event for Varsity Track. Track and Field has always been categorized as an individual sport. But if it really was, why did this group of athletes feel more like a family, rather than merely a team? 

Senior Night started off with various relay events planned by their captains: DJ Yost (12), Kate Lee (12) and Isaac Beaman (12). But to make it more unpredictable and engaging for the parent audience to witness, a twist was placed on the races with the anything-but-a-baton relay. The first “baton” was a shot put, followed by a human chain, a water bowl, and lastly, the team’s personal favourite: passing the phone while recording. 

The night proceeded with tributes for the coaches and senior parents. Though the night was meant to honor the seniors, the team would not have been where they were that day without the adults’ involvement. Ending the season with silver in ACSC, numerous record-breaking races, and coming home with the sportsmanship award, the sacrifices, commitment, and discipline from Coach Keas, Peters, Guerrero, and Brooks will never be forgotten. 

The night ended with a feast prepared by the generous parents, which made up a three-course meal for everyone. It consisted of foods like sushi and kimbap to pork ragu to fruit tarts, filling out half the bar of the cafeteria. Lastly, the coaches said their tributes to each individual senior that touched everyone’s heart. Closing the night with a heartfelt speech from Coach Brooks with lessons and advice we can take on for the rest of our lives, the Varsity Track and Field 2024 season came to a bittersweet end. 

Hudson Brooks (11), one of the runners who contributed to a record-breaking 4x100m race, said, “This team has been so much fun to run on, and senior night was a very good way to end it. It was a great way to send off the seniors with whom we’ve had so much joy bonding with this past season.”