Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Xu An Lim This year, on September 13 th , was my first time going to the SEW evening sessions, and it was also my first time experiencing the LORD in the evening. The LORD is always trying to call out to people to enter his heavenly circle. He does this in many different ways, like communicating directly to them or sending people as his messengers. I went to the night sessions as a result of the latter and got my first taste of God’s love during the evening sessions. It was at this moment that my life was changed forever. Ever since I came to Dalat, I never went to the SEW or MEW night sessions because I never saw the purpose of going there, since I was a non-Christian. This went on for a number of years until SEW this year, when Tim Baek (12) asked me to come on the evening session on Wednesday; and since this was my last year here, I thought to my myself, “I might as well go.” When I arrived, I already had missed some of the worship songs, and I did not find a seat, so I...

Tim Baek “Eagles on three! One, Two, Three, EAGLES!!!” the boys shouted with maximized enthusiasm and energy. One more match and they were the winners on the court. Without knowing how the match would turn out, the brave Eagles entered the court in ISKL with the mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness. On 21 st September 2018, the Dalat boys varsity volleyball team went to ISKL’s campus for a volleyball tournament. The moment they reached the campus, they had to change into their team uniform and get ready for their first match against ISKL. The whistle for the first match was blown, and all the players got into their positions. The Eagles tried hard, but the ISKL Panthers took their first set with a score of 25 - 22. The boys worked hard on their second set to cover up their losses, but the Panthers finished the game with a score of 25 - 17. Despite their first loss in the tournament, the Eagles earned their first victory from a Malay team with the score of 25 - 10,...

Karl Chan A month ago, there were try-outs for all first season sports. The two main sports this season are volleyball and soccer. Since then, all the varsity volleyball and soccer players have been working extremely hard to compete for first place in the school’s upcoming major tournament – ACSC. However, for us, the Eagles, to get first in ACSC, we must face countless tough opponents in order to improve; last weekend, we faced one of them – ISKL. On Friday, September 21st, the varsity soccer guys, varsity soccer girls, varsity volleyball guys, varsity volleyball girls, and the JV volleyball girls took a trip to KL to face off against the Panthers at their home ground. As ISKL is one of the most famous international schools in Malaysia, their sports facilities are advanced enough to attract lots of high caliber sports players to their school; so, beating them is challenging. Since I was (and currently am) one of the varsity volleyball players, I can remember that they...

Nathan Chand Less than 48 hours and already taking 3 “L’s”. The Dalat varsity teams stepped onto a brand new ISKL campus to play the ISKL varsity and JV teams, putting a spotlight on a massive gymnasium with two full courts along with two new turf fields. Nobody could even believe the size of that campus without having visited it in person. Bethany Davis (12) said, “this place feels like an airport.” The Dalat varsity football boys have never beat the ISKL varsity team. They have played them time and time again but to no avail. ISKL always seems to beat them, whether they dominated the game and obliterated the score line, or even if they simply got lucky with a chance goal and a good call from the ref. This year, it was going to be different. The team was so hyped. They met in many team meetings preparing mentally. They worked hard in many practices preparing physically. They even prayed before the game to prepare emotionally/spiritually. The tagline that was repeated and spre...

Amanda Low During the SEW opening worship night, on September 11, God’s presence filled the entire room and touched countless people with His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God called on people to draw closer to Him by being vulnerable towards Him and by submitting wholly to Him. So many people were indulged in the worship that they blocked out whatever judgments or criticisms others awaited to pour out on them. They lifted their hands up high, pouring their hearts out worshiping the Almighty God. Feeling the call from God, people stepped out of their comfort zones and laid their hands on their peers to pray for them, which brought them closer to God. Slowly, the prayers multiplied exponentially. Groups started coming together to pray and to cast all their worries upon God. Joy, peace, sadness, thankfulness, relief—all kinds of emotions were presented before God that day. As Mikaela Steinkamp (12) said, “The energy inside the Harbour Hall was phenomenal. You had people who...

Kimberly Hills After what seemed like two million emails back and forth, the plans for Tuesday’s opening session were set. The Leadership Development class, with the guidance of Mr. McClary, Mr. Ronzheimer, and Mrs. Allen, worked hard for the past week, organizing Dalat’s annual Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). On Tuesday, September 11, 2018, SEW began with a 2-hour worship night in Dalat’s brand-new Harbor Hall. During SEW, classes are cut short during the school day, allowing for guest speakers to share testimonies, teach from the Bible, and pray for students and their faith. In addition to the daily chapel sessions, the Harbor Hall also hosted evening sessions, where parents, staff, and secondary students could join to receive more biblical teaching. This year’s SEW was special because students were very heavily involved in planning and organizing all the logistics. This year, Dalat offers a new class called Leadership Development, which is only open for seniors who have ...

Natasha Palanivel Dalat students gathered on Tuesday night for an amazing time of worship and prayer stations lead by seniors to kick off SEW. On the 11th of September, Dalat students shuffled into the Harbour Hall and found, to their surprise, that the chairs had been removed! Students chatted and sat on the floor while waiting for the worship night to begin. As the lights dimmed, and the music began to play, students turned their attention towards God, and the worship team lead the students in a beautiful time of worship. Shannon Frohlich shared an excellent testimony on how she obeyed God, which set up the atmosphere for the next part of the worship night. The spiritual development class of Dalat had come up with a few stations that students could visit to either receive prayer or just reflect on their faith. Different seniors were in charge of the stations and were available to pray for the underclassmen. It was definitely a great opportunity for the senior class to re...

Jeremy Worten My uncle and aunt, the guest SEW speakers at Dalat International School, came to refresh our souls with God. Do you get tired of the same old grind? The same routine of life? Waking up early, eating breakfast, and arriving at school on time. Last week—SEW week—though, was something special.  I believe the purpose of SEW is to take a break from the normal weeks of school to give a chance for students and staff to really get right with God, so that they can continue to build a strong foundation for the rest of the school year. This year, SEW was special to me because my aunt and uncle were the guest speakers for the week. It was an honor to be the MC for most of the nights and to introduce them to my friends and teachers. They were not planning on coming, but because of my request, they accepted the invitation. Opening Night – Lights, camera, action! The MC for the first night was me, and I was super nervous. There was an amazing turnout, and it felt li...

Sarah Lee On Monday, September 10th, the varsity volleyball guys and girls were up against the Chung Ling High School volleyball teams. Usually, Mondays are filled with students struggling to wake up and come to terms that the weekend is over, but that wasn’t the case for our varsity volleyball athletes. They had to be alert and ready to move around quickly on the court, calling out for balls that were out or tipping over the net. Although the games were set to start at 4:30pm at the gym, the bleachers started filling up at around 4pm with students and parents who were ready to cheer on our guys and girls. Many players from the girls’ soccer team came to support their peers before their practices that were scheduled at 5:30pm. Both teams had time on the court before the games started to warm up. Our girls’ volleyball team held a quick prayer before heading out to their allotted time for practice. The guys and girls warmed up by practicing their spikes and serves, while...

Carissa Hoffmeyer After a sweaty, hot bus ride, a bumpy two-hour flight, and an hour van ride, the Dalat high school band arrived at the 24@Home hotel in Bangkok. A total of 38 high schoolers, along with Mr. Kearney, Mr. Ramos, Ms. Goh, and Ms. Claudia attended the 2018 Massed Band Festival from Dalat. On Friday, September 7, 2018, seven different schools met at ISB for an eight-hour massed band rehearsal, where we had the chance to interact with other students and play music, conducted by a retired cowboy conductor from Montana. Even though this band trip was for participating in the massed band festival, most students truly enjoyed the time spent away from working. Several new friendships were created over this trip, as there was a wide variety of different students from each grade, and they were able to intermingle. One student, Sieon Park (10) said, “I really liked going on the trip with friends, hanging out with them, meeting new people, and playing with them.” On...

Yusoof Monawvil A solid bluff can be pulled off in the midst of a speech, perhaps on a resume, and with skill, in a game of cards. It goes without saying that bluffing has gotten people far; fortune-tellers, astrologers, and palm-readers all make their careers off of bluffing. But where it truly matters, in the realm of music, bluffing just won’t do the trick--and the students at Dalat that participated in the band festival at ISB are manifest proof of this. As evidenced in the oh-so-reliable source that is the ol’ spaghetti Western film, to call a bluff on a shifty-eyed card player requires a careful mix of intuition and calm, cold, and calculated judgment—not the sort of thing the average joe could pull off. With careful selection of rhetorical devices, a politician delivering a speech could bluff over a speech regarding a controversial subject or topic—techniques that might widely go over the heads of many constituents. But this is far from the case in the wild world of...

Zhi Yi Saw As Dalat’s high school students return from the summer break, many race to change their classes during the school’s first week to shape their school semester. By the time of the writing and publication of this article, almost four weeks will have passed since students have been able to change their classes for the semester or year. Nevertheless, the events of that short first week remain incredibly influential on both the present and future of Dalat’s students. To many, those first three days after the summer of 2018 aren’t enough to decide if they want to change classes for the semester. Sometimes, some implications or exceptions lead to classes being switched after the end of the first week, though this is highly unadvised. Two neighboring rooms are located in the lobby of the Dalat Castle. Both experience their rush hours from the students at the beginning of the school year by those who want to change classes or are looking for advice. One of these rooms is ...

Alexandre Shing In the dark of night, seniors of the class of 2019 gathered at the carpark, a sense of anticipation (and dinner) swimming within their stomaches. A few announcements were given, along with Mr. Steinkamp’s practical reminder to remember DBS (short for Don’t Be Stupid). Parents stood by, sending their well wishes and prayers along, right up to the point of boarding the bus. Thus, began the journey to Telunas, an island off the coast of Batam and a twelve-hour ride away. Bus ride after boat ride, the class finally made it to their destination, whereupon they were greeted with a welcoming meal, a beautiful resort trailing into the ocean, and a cheerful staff who were already wanting to get to know them. There was barely enough time to get settled into the rooms allocated to each student before free time was announced, allowing them the chance to explore the new environment and all it had to offer. Seniors flocked to the beach, where opportunities for entertainment ...

Annabelle Teoh Most of us seniors came in with the same hope–to create bonds and memories that will last a lifetime–and after five days of the sun, fun, and shenanigans, our hopes were fulfilled. The first day began on a bus. With bags packed and people loaded, the senior class embarked on an eight-hour bus ride, followed by a 2-hour ferry ride, and lastly a ninety-minute boat ride. Our class couldn’t afford to buy plane tickets to Telunas… …but who was complaining? Hours of quality bonding and late-night talks that were either foolish or sentimental– no one could have put a price on that. After a long night of travelling, we finally reached Telunas. Everyone was exhausted, but no one was ready to hit the sack. As soon as we got our bags and room arrangements, we hit the beach for some fun in the sun. While the boys played their ball games, the girls gathered in a circle in the ocean, screaming and laughing while playing odd hand games. To end a great first day i...

Matthew Strong I set my foot on the first step of a ladder that seemed to end in the sky but really ended at a platform six meters above the water below. I tried to swallow my fear— to build the strength to do what I knew I was going to do; and so I sprinted up the ladder and saw the waterfall underneath the slats of the steps. I waited for the few people in line in front of me, one of them being Trevor Ronning (12), who was, like me, endeavoring this feat for the first time, embraced it with all his might running at full speed toward a point that caused me much trepidation. Now, it was my turn. I turned and saw Mikaela Steinkamp (12) smiling at my panicked qualms, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it!” and before I knew it, my name was being chanted from the deck five meters below. She did not let me back out or even let herself attempt the feat first. And so, I backed up from the edge of the wooden edifice, both out of a desire to not hold back the line desperately wanting to jump ...