Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Chia Ewe March 15th started like any other weekday. As usual, the incessant rings of my alarm clock greeted me as I tried to get in more winks. I tried to ignore the annoying rings but a quick glance at the time persuaded me to get ready. It was already 3 minutes past 8 in the morning, and I was still in bed. Hmmm… Not bad. Though it was a pain to get up, I managed to drag myself into the bathroom. At least it was no ordinary school day. The school had a transition retreat planned out for the seniors. What’s so special about this? Honestly, I didn't know, but I was excited to goof off with my friends. After a quick, lazy shower, I frantically filled my drawstring bag with two pairs of clothes and an iPad charger. I rushed out the door, while hugging my shoes and iPad, and hurried to school thinking I was going to be late. I could already picture being met with a signature “Wow! Take your sweet time,” from a certain Daniel Kim (12) of Dalat International School. When I...

Rainbow Chan On Thursday, March 15, the Class of 2018 went on the annual Senior Transition Retreat at Rainbow Paradise Hotel. Students met at the clock tower and trekked to the hotel next door and settled in the meeting room for the first session. The first session talked about the struggles and also benefits of Third Culture Kids. "I learned that being a TCK means that you'll fit in more quickly, but you also stand out from others," said Daniel Kim (12). There were several more sessions throughout the day and students were given free time after lunch to both socialize and rest. Many students gathered in the meeting room to play group games, including cards, while waiting for the next session to begin. During the session, one of the most memorable activities was the game about the importance and cost of post-secondary education, which was led by Principal Brian Brewster. The game had students do workouts to earn money and also understand the frustration o...

Julia Munson It was 8:20a when the seniors gathered around the clock tower. Bags were packed and there was excitement in the air. It was finally time for the Senior Transition Retreat. Every year, the seniors have the chance to go on a two-day retreat at Paradise Hotel. There, the seniors are told almost everything they will need to know in order to be prepared for life beyond high school. As the seniors arrived at the hotel, which was less than a minute away from school, they were led into a room where all their meetings would be held. The first few sessions talked about grief and how to live in the world as TCKs (Third Culture Kids). Later on, there were meetings about finances, relationships, and even doing laundry. But other than the interesting sessions put on by Dalat staff, there was also some free time. “ We played a lot of Korean concentration games during our free time,” said Areeya Kunawaradisai (12). “At one point, I think we had almost a third of the class...

Chan Woong Won On Friday, the 9 th of March, Mr. Brewster made a surprise visit to the seniors’ Bible classes. As soon as he walked into the classroom, the students asked the regular question, “who is it this time?”   Thankfully, no one was in trouble; instead, there was to be a mandatory meeting for the senior class the following Monday after X-Block. The weekend flew by and after a long day, the seniors received a pleasant surprise. The “mandatory meeting” turned out to be a cover-up for the junior class’ invitation to the senior class for Junior Senior Banquet (JSB). During this “Qualitea Time,” the juniors served tea, cookies, and sandwiches. As Tommy Han (12) commented, “It was a really nice set-up. I could forget about school for a moment and enjoy the fact that we are seniors. I enjoyed the qualitea time!” This event officially marked the beginning of the JSB askings. For the next couple of weeks, the topic of who to ask and who got asked will be the talk of t...

Rosie Shin “500 going once… going twice... Sold!” exclaimed Mr. Karl Steinkamp to the crowd of parents and children sitting in front of the podium at the basketball court. On March 12, the PTO organized the International Food Fair they hold annually. Once again, food stands of all kinds of delicious delicacies awaited the students and parents on the court. During this food fair, the Junior Class participated in an event to serve the community and raise money for their own Junior Class Store: Junior for Hire. Similar to the Junior Senior Banquet, as part of the Junior Class tradition, the juniors planned different activities in groups. Starting from throwing a birthday party or a princess-themed party to tutoring children in instruments or academic subjects, the juniors prepared their unique events together. They brainstormed all kinds of ideas and then chose the ones they decided would work the best. Some of the juniors even prepared for two or more different events. On th...

Mika Yeap This week marks the start of the compilation of the Eagle’s Eye , Dalat’s annual art and writing publication curated by the seniors of Miss Emily Grad’s Advanced Composition class. The students will be using Adobe InDesign to format the publication, as they do every year, with the help of Mrs. Lydia Roberts, a seasoned graphic designer. Before the design process begins, though, a very important aspect of the magazine needed to be settled: the title. The title serves as a theme of the class and work they produce that year, and so an all-inclusive yet meaningful theme is of paramount importance. The selection process for this title, a discussion within the Advanced Composition class, might remain the most eventful portion of the process. During this discussion, Chanwoong Won (12) had no limit of profound ideas for the title, but to the more stable mind of Miss Grad, the staff largely in charge of the content for the magazine, his ideas left a lot to be desired. ...

Natalie Ryan Being a new student during my senior year was less of a challenge than one may assume. Many of my peers welcomed me with warm hearts and open arms. I have only been at this school for three quarters (1 ½ semesters), and I already find it very painful to say my goodbyes. This school has provided me with so many opportunities to grow as an individual, and I am proud to announce I have learned a lot. Many of my fellow seniors feel the same way, and I thought it would be a good idea to pay tribute to my grade and ask a few classmates to reflect on their senior year and life at Dalat -- so I asked them a series of questions and then added my own reflections: What is your favourite thing about Dalat? Sophia Ong replied, “I value the friendships I’ve made over the years -- hopefully they will be lifelong friendships.” It is difficult to keep in touch when we all fly to separate parts of the world for university or work, but those who mean the most to us will sti...