Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

After a full day of non-stop house games, Team Bolt finally broke an eight-year losing streak last Friday, taking home the Eagle Games championship for the first time since 2017. The games ran all day long across campus, mixing 9th through 12th graders into the four houses: Bolt, Quake, Blaze, and Wave. From morning to afternoon, our small groups competed in everything from Pictionary to Captain Chicken (which is literally just captain ball, but played with a squeaky rubber chicken). Before the day even started, all of Bolt got together to write chants and figure out how to get everyone hyped up. Co-leading my small group with Haram Jeon (12), our main goal was making sure no one felt left out. But the push for cross-grade connection stretched far beyond our team. "Normally I wouldn't be able to have this connection due to the age difference, but through the games we were able to have fun and work together as a house," said Wave leader Jaewon Kim (12). "It was nice t...

Among the loud noises of unfounded accusations, panicked defences, and the calm arguments of evil masterminds, the sound of the timer ending was heard by all. The time had come to vote who among them was the werewolf. Discussion where shushed, fingers were pointed, and cards were flipped over to reveal an outcome that none had anticipated.  It was Friday, the 21st of August, and the designated hour had at last arrived. It was time for the first Game Night of the year. The fists to arrive at the designated location were Ms. Carin Loraine, the incredible staff sponsor and unofficial queen of Game Night, and Gabe Roylance, the veteran Game Knight and the undefeated champion. Over the course of an hour the remaining Knight would arrive. There was Nick the Grand, Giovanni the Joyful, Nathan the Stedfast, Karyme the Quiet, and myself, David the Eager.  As the other members of the Order gathered, discussions on what game should be played ensued. One of the Game Knights had brought hi...

If you have a school full of growing children, why not fill it with growing plants? Many Dalat teachers and staff have found value in bringing vegetation into their classrooms. “They make the classroom more welcoming,” noted middle school language arts teacher Mrs. Catherine Bekker. “I think they purify the air, and personally, I just love plants.” High school English teacher Mr. Jens Hieber, whose classroom is considered by students as one of the coziest in the school, noted their plants’ potential to create a positive atmosphere: “There’s something about having living things in a space that makes it better,” he stated. “When humans enter a place that’s totally sterile, with no living things at all—I don’t think that’s the best for them.” A semblance of nature, however, doesn’t have the same effect as the real thing, as evidenced by Mr. Joshua Anderson, who wasn’t aware of the plants in his classroom—precisely because they were fake. “We have plastic plants?” the high school Bible tea...

Strange, it’s 5:30 pm already, shouldn’t the campus be closed? Why is the field covered with students of all ages? While some students are kicking footballs and running on the open field, others are swinging and jumping on the playground. Beneath the laughter and the occasional screams of excitement, parents scattered around the field chit-chatting in the background. Today is a special day - it’s the MS and HS Open House! Ms. Wood, the Head of School, explained, “Open House is for our whole community to come together. The parents, and the students, and the staff, and everybody get to meet and get to know one another. We want the parents to meet the teachers, but also everybody just to have dinner and play; have fun together!” During the first hour, the high school teachers waited in their classrooms, welcoming any visiting families. There aren’t many, as participation in such events tends to drop with higher grade levels: the number of groups most teachers attend to is no more than the...

Right after lunch, the seniors gathered outside near the steps of the Harbor. The instructions from the camera crew were simple: tallest students at the back, shortest students in front, everyone must be standing, everyone must be visible. We shuffled around trying to figure out where we belonged, squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder onto the steps. With so many people packed together, everyone looked like they came out of a shower with their striking pink seniors shirts by the time the photographer was ready. By 1 p.m., the Harbor steps became a human staircase of seniors, packed tightly together under the afternoon heat.  First was the formal picture. Stand still. Face forward. Smile.  Then came the freestyle photo, when the carefully arranged senior class finally got to break formation and do something less serious. The moment the group photo was done, the entire group seemed to scatter at once. After standing so close together in the heat, people scattered off almost immediately;...

SPLASH! Naomi O’quin (12) shoved me into the pool at Lost Paradise Resort, forcing me to come to terms with the water’s chilling temperature. She then proceeded to jump in, spraying water over everyone nearby. Many of my friends who had already been on the ExCom retreat before told me that for the first 1.5 hours of free time after arriving at Lost Paradise Resort, people usually go to the pool and have some fun. So we did! All the seniors, a sophomore, and a couple of the freshmen went to the pool, though the freshmen were on the other side.  “Marco!” shouted John Pham (12).  “Polo!” replied everyone else.  Jaden Lee (12) then attempted to push different people towards John in the hope that they would become the next “Marco.”  Ethan Khor (10) especially was targeted numerous times by Jaden and, as a result, became Marco several times. We played more games: silent Marco Polo and Sharks and Minnows, but we soon had to leave so that we could shower before dinner. Once ...