Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Every student has always had that one thought where they want to vent on their teachers and throw something at them. Last Wednesday, all the students had that opportunity to put their money where their mouth was. The Juniors hosted a dunk and pie palooza, where students could pay to throw plates of whipped cream or dunk their favorite teachers in the icy cold water of the tank.  Students lined up in front of the gym, waving money in their hands, shouting and jumping around excitedly, wanting to dunk and pie their favorite teachers. There was a wide variety of students going from kindergarten all the way to seniors. Teachers were seated in a row, and students threw their plates of whipped cream onto them, some of them even going up to the teachers and smearing the whipped cream all over them. Students also lined up to take turns throwing a ball to dunk their favorite teachers. The teacher came out of the tank, shivering and soaked, while the students laughed joyfully at them. The wh...

The chants came before the splash. On October 28, Dalat teacher Robert Wong was the first to be dunked at the school’s Dunk-n-Pie-Looza event. Dunk-n-Pie-Looza is an event where Dalat students can make teachers fall into the water tank by hitting a target with a ball and throwing cream pie at teachers' faces and bodies. This event is not only for the Dalat community's entertainment, but also for Dalat's Annual Fund. Students could purchase their balls and pies to throw and hit. This traditional event happened many years ago, and this year’s Annual Fund has a fundraising goal of RM 150,000. Before Mr. Wong participated, he showed some excitement. "I think there are just a lot of people who would take special joy seeing me get dunked," Mr. Wong said. Simultaneously, he showed an appreciation of this event: "I think events like this help bring the community together towards one common goal. It's neat to see." When he climbed up onto the dunk tank, stude...

Stretching an exceptionally long string across Harbor Hall, guest speakers Ivan and Ashley demonstrated how brief earthly life is compared to eternity during Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). The annual event by the Dalat Spiritual Life Department and Leadership Development (LD) team featured guest speakers Ivan and Ashley, a married couple serving with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) who traveled all the way from the United States to Penang. The SEW week began on Wednesday with chapel and evening services. During Wednesday chapel, speaker Ivan emphasized the unique value of human life by illustrating how God intentionally crafted humanity in His image, contrasting it with the creation of the universe in Genesis 1:3. Later that evening, Ashley shared her personal testimony on the essential role of the church community in supporting emotional and spiritual growth. The key moment of the week arrived during Thursday’s chapel before lunch. Ivan called for a volunteer from the senior boys, bringin...

Elementary school students and parents alike went up for prayer after four seniors shared how God had worked in their lives during the final night of Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). The highlight of the week for most people was the third night, when the whole service was student-led, and the community got to hear the seniors’ stories. This year, seniors Jay Chong (12), Yi Wen Cheok (12), Kathy Jones (12), and Naomi O’Quin (12) shared their testimonies and the many ways that God has been working in their lives. The evening was full of worship, testimonies, and moments of prayer and reflection.  After the senior stories, many people went up to the front of Harbor Hall to receive prayer from the leadership development class and the speakers, while others prayed with their friends and family. Noah Dobson (12) said, “Getting prayer and praying for others was one of the most powerful and moving moments of the week.” This year, SEW was held from October 29 to October 30, and the theme was ...

Fall break is like charging your phone at the end of the day for most Dalat students. With a well-deserved one-week break marking the end of the first quarter of school, most students either spend time with family or with friends on impact trips.  For athletes, however, it is a different story. With ACSC around the corner – the biggest tournament of the season – teams often use this precious time to give one last push, make final adjustments to their teams, and make the most of the one-week break. At least that was expected to happen. This year, disappointingly, things took a turn for the worse.  “Dropping like flies” was what Jayron Lee (9) used to describe the Varsity Boys Volleyball team as he found out that friends and teammates started falling victim to influenza. Unfortunately, the Boys Volleyball team was not the only one affected by this. It seemed that after all the varsity teams made their trip down to ISKL, a considerable number of people across all the teams felt s...

“I spent the first five days of break unable to do anything because my body was fighting influenza, but once I was better I was able to start binge watching my favorite shows again,” said Brandon Koi (12).  A few weeks before fall break, a wave of influenza hit, and people began missing school before the break even began. Like Brandon, many people used this break to catch up on some rest and a much-needed recovery. It was the perfect chance to kick back, take it easy, and recharge. Many took time off from their usual hustle to focus on themselves, doing things that helped them unwind and feel better overall, whether that be scrolling through the day or even just getting their steps in. Other people were like Mia Yuan (12), who decided to take a trip abroad instead. She said, “The break put a pause on the ongoing packed senior year, which allowed me to get some fresh air in another country where there is no haze. It was really brief but rewarding.” Traveling became the ultimate esca...