Merdeka Day in the Dorms

Chloe Castro

     What? No school on a Wednesday? Yes, that's right, August 31st was a no school day for Dalat. It was the Malaysian holiday, Merdeka Day. This is the day Malaysia declared its independence from the British Empire in 1957. For most, it was a day to catch up on sleep, homework, and social media. While that’s what most of the dorm kids did, it was not the only thing they did. Knowing that a national holiday would probably bring lots of traffic, the dorm parents planned activities or parties for each dorm. The activities included were 3x3 basketball, NBA 2K16, ping-pong, foosball, henna, manicures, and watching movies. Jaffray hosted with the ping-pong, foosball, and NBA 2K16. Zeimer had a Bourne movie marathon. Jackson played chick flicks while all who came enjoyed snacks, henna, and manicures.

            As a dorm student myself, I looked forward to this day. I didn’t feel like going out and the dorms provided the perfect opportunity to stay in. Each dorm is unique in how it works and stays together. I love going to each dorm and watching the interactions. In other words, each dorm has personality. The Merdeka Day activities allowed dorm kids to hangout and have fun instead of being absorbed in social media or homework.  

That morning in Jaffray, we had crepes for breakfast as the sunlight shined through the windows. To my surprise there was quite a bit of bustling. Apparently many wanted the day to start. As I ate my breakfast there seemed to be a problem. We had the ping-pong table and the ping-pong balls but we only had one paddle. This was a slight problem, and we soon found that it’s a bit difficult to hit a ball over with just your hand. It’s not impossible, mind you, but just a bit difficult. In order to solve this problem, someone volunteered the idea to make paddles out of cardboard. Scott Poulter, the dorm assistant, took on the task with Rahul Gill (11) to make the paddles out of cardboard. After layering, cutting and taping, the paddles were soon ready for testing. The dramatic moment ended in victory as the ping-pong ball was successfully served to the other side.

“It was difficult to make a paddle out of cardboard because it’s hollow and doesn’t have much structural strength. The good thing was that we used duct tape to give the handle and faces some grip. Uncle Scott still wrecked everyone with the cardboard paddles,” explained Gill.

Throughout the day, dorm kids continued playing ping-pong with multi colored cardboard paddles. The Merdeka Day ended in a cool and rainy night. After a fun day of problem solving, laughter, and relaxation, we all settled down to prepare ourselves for school the next day.