Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Lydia Kim With his lips tucked in his mouth, John Cho (12) proceeded to face the group and screech the word, “pterodactyl.” Everyone in the group teared up in their attempts to stifle their laughter and hide their teeth to escape the punishment of the Pterodactyl Game. On November 23, all three dorms in the Dalat community packed up to leave for their annual Dorm Retreat. Unlike other years, the bus did not take the route to the Chefoo Centre in Cameron Highlands but instead headed to the Swiss-Garden Beach Resort in Damai Laut. After three hours of an anticipatory bus ride, the dorm students found themselves welcomed by a familiar yet foreign ocean breeze and a dance flash mob prepared by the staff at the resort. Following the appetizing dinner with various seafood dishes, the students sat in the main hall for the sessions. This year, the sessions were led by guest speakers Mr. and Mrs. Castro, who shared their testimonies and connected them to the story of the Prodiga...

Seth Kelley On Saturday, November 24, a portion of the high school choir brought the Christmas spirit with a small performance at Straits Quay. The mall’s staff gave this choir a prime-time slot, which meant there was high demand for their angelic mix of voices. The choir performed their November’s worth of work on acapella arrangements of “White Winter Hymnal” by Robin Pecknoid and “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley. But they went beyond the standard conglomerating of their twenty voices—give or take. The former song included several body percussion solis from the women, and the latter song opened with a vocal solo by Joseph Chandra (11) and Celestine Teoh (11). “The most challenging part about the solo for me was learning how to blend my voice with Joseph’s, while at the same time, maintaining my projection and conveying emotion,” reflected Teoh. “One reason I enjoyed performing in Straits Quay is that it gave me a chance to exhibit my passion for music.” This short flash-...

Lauren Lee “ Finally, ” Albert Jeong (12) groaned loudly at the sound of Wednesday’s school bell. School was officially out, and the long weekend looked amazing from where most students were standing. The much-anticipated four-day break celebrated gratitude, rest, and thankfulness with family and community. However, the iconic American holiday wasn’t celebrated by everyone: to some, it was a huge family occasion, while to others, it simply acted as a promising and relaxing long weekend. Dalat’s high schoolers took advantage of this break in many different ways—while some students took the break to get some well-needed rest, some were stuffed with the busyness of organizing Thanksgiving lunches and dinners. For others, this four-day weekend was good just to have extra time for academics, especially with the December SAT coming up. Thanksgiving planning seemed to be the most popular event of the weekend, though, as the American tradition is a popular one amongst Dalat staff ...

By Courtney Soon As the end of the semester is approaching, Mr. Kilgo, teacher of the Christ and Culture 12, decided to place the seniors’ nightmares into reality. In place of a final exam, the Bible class hosted a debate. Students had to research different current social issues, such as capital punishment, drug legalization, climate change, homosexuality, dating, immigration, and so on. The final project tested them in their knowledge, both around the controversies and their biblical stance on the issues, as they will need a good foundation to defend their beliefs once they leave their Dalat bubble. For the final project, all seniors in the class participated in different roles of the debate: Topic Presenters, Debaters, and Question Generators. Topic Presenters needed to present findings around the issue to the class in both secular and Christian views. Question Generators were assigned to spur critical-thinking questions and press the debaters to question their ethical, mora...

Ruben Nyul The Dalat community is a very welcoming one. Last Friday, the “new kid on the block” presented himself for everyone to see. By ‘the new kid on the block,’ I mean the recently added sport into Dalat Athletics: rugby. A few courageous individuals remained on the team after weeks of hard, physical practices. Some had to drop out of the team given the physicality that the sport requires. At the weekly All Hands On Deck announcements, it had been announced that the first ever rugby game in Dalat history was to be played on Friday, November 16, 2018 on Upper Field: the Blue Dalat team versus the Yellow team, an inter-squad scrimmage. The hype was unreal and later justified. The varsity basketball team postponed its practice so that the team could watch the rugby game. The sidelines were so packed with spectators that it was hard to walk around and find the right spot to watch the game. This was the most packed I have ever seen Upper Field in my six years of attending Dala...

Hannah Lawrence Many underestimated the hidden skills that were found last Friday on Upper Field when some high school girls, part of the varsity rugby team, played their first ever inner-squad game. They can only pass the ball behind them. The ball is like a football but not. They don’t wear any gear, but they run right into the other teams’ face. They get touchdowns, but they are called a Tri. Some say it is like a game of tag with a ball, but last Friday showed that it was much more than just that. Last Friday, the girls here in high school got to experience their first ever touch-rugby game in the history of Dalat International School.  There were two teams: the Gold team and the Blue team. They were divided not by rank of skill but by girls learning together about the game. Most of these girls are athletes, but some are not and have never been on a varsity team, much less on a team. There is much diversity; with Coach Van though, they are making history.  The ...

Vivien Chang November 7, 2018, the sound of cheers reverberated through Youth Park— the battle between Blaze, Wave, Quake, and Bolt had begun. From station to station, each team competed for beads—ultimately leading to the wonderful Seahorse Trophy. That morning, each team separated into their factions based on the team color. Blaze with their enthusiastic cheer, Wave with their music, Quake with their face paint, and Bolt with their energetic smiles: each team trooped towards the new parking lot and into the buses. As the buses arrived at the Youth Park, each team slowly progressed towards the stadium where directions of the event were given. Throughout the day, each faction separated into eight smaller units to rotate through eight stations. Each unit consisted of different grade members, which in turn encouraged teamwork and new friendship formation. Going from Capture the Chicken, crossing the road using tires, to Chinese Checkers, a wide variety of activities with dif...

Sin Ler Oo On November 2nd, a group of Media Literacy students sat pensively in their seats as Mr. Steinkamp strode to the front of the room. A pile of Nokia phones and an empty box lay ominously on the desk nearby. All of the students could see the wide grin on his face. As Mr. Steinkamp clapped his hands to signal the start of the day, he also marked the beginning of something else. Day 1 of the Dumb and Dumber Project had begun. The project’s goal was to replace the students’ smartphones with “dumb phones” (the Nokia phones sitting innocently on the table) so that students may experience the impacts of using a smartphone on individuals and society. For this project, students were expected not to use a smartphone for two weeks. To those who were attached to their phones, this would be a challenging project indeed. As a result, with the help of Seth Kelley (12) and Gabe Roberts (11), Mr. Steinkamp began to orchestrate the Dumb and Dumber Project’s first mockumentary as a ...

Sam Castro The anxiety passed through every boy’s body as they woke up. Everyone knew that it was the day to show their best basketball skills to join the men’s varsity basketball team, but all nerves were on the edge. Because of the anticipation, the school day couldn’t have felt longer; then the time finally came, at 3:10 the bell rang, and instantly people were mentally preparing for the coming event of tryouts. As soon as all the boys walked into the gym, one distinction from last year was noticeable: the coaches were completely new to their position. Coach Hoffmeyer and Coach Lee were named the new coaches of the team. Both coaches from last year moved away the same year, leaving the team with nothing until Mr. Hoffmeyer came to the team’s aid when it was most needed. Everyone who just walked in noticed that the format was different than it usually was from the previous coaches. Cones were set up everywhere in positions that no one recognized. The boys were told to show t...

Linus Lim Rugby. A sport only the strongest play.  As I watch players suiting up for practice and tackling dummies, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, I can’t believe we’re having this in Dalat.” October 30, 2018 marked Dalat’s first ever rugby practice. Nervous and excited, players started stretching and warming up before practice began. Eyes wandered around the field as players prepared for the coach’s arrival. Phreeeeeet! All students assembled to the sounds of the coache’s whistle. Coach Morgan congratulated players for joining him in this historic moment and started practice with the signature Eagles chant: “Eagles on three! One! Two! Three! Eagles!” With that, Coach Morgan began practice with a wrestling drill. This drill required the toughest and strongest players. Well-built figures, such as Gavin Zimmer (11), stood out amongst the others as one of the most brawny and powerful players on the team. Next up was a drill of passing. Players worked on technique and fo...

John Cho Drip, drip: sweat slowly rolls off the players’ faces, as they will give everything they have to get onto the varsity basketball team. They will push and fight for every single ball like a warrior because, if not, there is no guaranteed spot. Try-outs were held during the week of October 29 th . Perhaps Dalat’s most popular sport would be basketball; girls and boys play this sport full of passion and desire. Samuel Castro (12), who didn’t make the basketball team in 9th grade, said that he practiced almost every day on the outdoor court, after he finished eating dinner with his Jaffray dorm family. As he practiced, he said, “I always thought I would get better playing scrap ball with my friends; however, I realized I am only going to get better playing against skilled players and high-level competition.” On the other hand, some basketball players didn’t practice due to the volleyball or soccer season. The boys’ tryout was split over two days. The first day was sho...

Trevor Ronning   It was Friday night and the final preparations for Freaky Friday were falling into place. The anticipation was swirling in our hearts as seniors got ready to put on the event for the middle schoolers. We provided four stations: a dinner station, a flour bomb capture the flag station, a treasure hunt station, and my station—dodgeball. When it finally started, all I had on my mind was, “I hope the middle schoolers have fun.”  I had whistles and dodgeballs, and I was prepared to ref the games; but when Mrs. Steinkamp saw me standing on the side officiating, she told me, “You should get in there.” So, I joined in the festivities. In the end, I may have enjoyed it even more than they did. Ashlynn Ruble (12), who was leading dodgeball with me, said, “ I really enjoyed helping with dodgeball because it gave me the chance to interact with the middle schoolers and have fun with them.” One particular group I remember better than the others was because Jeremy ...

Jackson Miller Last week saw a momentous occasion for the Dalat drama department. The student written three act murder mystery, To Kill a Murderer, premiered on the 17th and 18th of October; the first production to be performed in Harbor Hall. A full cast of student actors, some longstanding drama enthusiasts, others newly interested in acting, spent two busy months rehearsing and practicing under the direction of Mrs. Horton and Miss Geiman. This is by far the shortest time that any drama team has had to pull off a full-scale production here at Dalat. As the big night quickly approached, the cast spent a busy week of school during the day and dress rehearsals at night. The tech crew worked tirelessly to design set pieces and procure costumes. Posters and announcements popped up all over school, advertising the upcoming production. The final rehearsal came and went, and the realization suddenly dawned that we were near the end. Opening night arrived with the set finished just ...

Ashlynn Ruble The week before fall break, Dalat’s soccer and volleyball teams had their biggest  tournament of the season, ACSC. The volleyball girls had ACSC at home, where we hosted the rest of the teams. The week consisted of many activities, such as the opening ceremony, the cultural night, volleyball games, and the closing banquet on the last night. After a week of playing hard and getting to know other teams, it was great to have a night where we ate dinner together and released floating lanterns over the ocean. A common highlight from ACSC is often spending time with other people and getting to know other teams, while also playing them in intense competition. Often, the tournament is a learning and growing experience for every individual both on and off the court. During the ACSC tournament, our team was pushed very hard, but still managed to show incredible perseverance and focus on the court. There were times where positions were switched from what our players...