Skip to main content

Merdeka Day in the Dorms

By Anonymous
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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DINGBAT DALAT STUDENT SPENDS PRECIOUS TIME CONJURING UP SELF-REFERENTIAL SENIOR SCRIBBLE RATHER THAN GATHERING LEGITIMATE WORK

By Anonymous
Yusoof Monawvil PENANG, MA - As the deadline drew near and the stars aligned in the night sky above the majestic waters of the Strait of Malacca, one particular Dalat student—Yusoof Monawvil (12), despite a plethora of school events to select and report on—opted instead to spend a remarkably well-wasted 24 minutes staring at a blank Google Docs page, fruitlessly drawing up and shooting down brainstormed ideas.  In a moment of sheer and undeniable epiphany, Monawvil deemed it only fitting to self-referentially satirize his own ingrained incompetence and dingbattery. Commenting on the flash of insight, Monawvil quoted himself, saying: “It all just kinda made sense. I went on DISCourse to look at the little rubric thing Ms. Grad and Mr. Hieber posted, and I checked if I was following all of the guidelines... And I technically am/was; [N]ot like there’s any specific direktive [sic] prohibiting self-quoting.”  In a turn of events, Monawvil did come to find his self-quoting en...
6 comments
Read more

"Spikeball, Swimming, and Sickness: The Remnants of Senior Sneak" by Ee Rynn Ong

By
“Guys, I think we’re here,” said Jonathan Ooi (12) as he peeked out of the lorry to catch the first glimpse of our Senior Sneak location. This year’s Senior Sneak was held in Nomad Adventure, Gopeng, and the organizers planned many activities for the Class of 2026, ranging from traditional games like congkak and batu seremban to adrenaline-pumping ropes courses and whitewater rafting. These scheduled activities proved to be some of the best highlights of the trip, but top of that, the seniors were also given some daily free time to chat, explore, and relax. Josh Stevens (12) had come prepared for this with two spikeball nets, which immediately attracted attention from people eager to spend time in the outdoor sun. The next five days saw spikeball veterans and newcomers alike, spending their precious one and a half hours daily around the unassuming circular net, smashing the yellow ball in hopes of a victory.  Caleb Evans (12) was one of the newbies to spikeball, learning how the g...
Post a Comment
Read more

“I Miss Her” by Nikhil Pillay

By
While most people had a fun week for mid-semester break, whether it was spent with family, or with friends on impact trips, no one had a more emotionally confusing week than Judson Kenneth Robert Nosker (12).  In the light of recent events, Judson, despite all odds, had gotten in a relationship with one of his classmates, and as the break started, he had started to spend a lot of time with her. While with her, he started to experience a new level of joy and completeness that he had never felt before. In the words of Judson Nosker, “The first half of the break was good, but the rest of it was horrible.”  The reason for such a quote and the roller coaster of emotion was because half way through the break, disaster had struck. Judson’s girlfriend had gone on a trip with her family to Thailand, leaving Judson all alone. For the rest of the week, Judson was in a state of longing for her presence.  His friends have reported numerous occasions when Judson would be sitting with t...
Post a Comment
Read more