Almost There!

Yi Yao Tan

“Remember, three burpies make two Brewster Bucks!!” said Mr. Brewster, as he kindly reminded us about the wages as we labored arduously for our “money.” During Senior Transition Retreat, the seniors received an amazing opportunity to escape the boring classrooms and sit in a meeting room right next to campus for hours a day to listen to potentially life-changing lectures about surviving college.

Of course, no retreat is a true Dalat event without a bit of educational “fun.” One of the activities incorporated a lecture, which was supposed to simulate college life. During the lecture, Mr. Brewster, the session leader, charged a Brewster Buck per minute for his talk about the dreadful expenses of college and the horrible world of debt. To earn their tuition fees, the seniors had to do a certain number of workouts based on the jobs they received to obtain enough to pay off their lectures. At the end of the session, more than half the class were either sore or buried under a pile of debt; but in return, they were transformed into much more aware consumers and knowledgeable students, prepared for the challenges of college.

The students, however, weren’t just hammered in with all the information of about the horrifying finances of college; but they also had a chance to hear the exciting college-life stories from a few Dalat alumni to satisfy their thirsts and curiosity for this mythical world of post-high school. Sometimes it is actually quite hard to imagine that all those “old people” were once college students, right? The times when Mr. Henderson and Uncle Keith had hair, which is quite a different era if you ask me.

The Senior Transition Retreat offered the group of almost-adults a much deeper insight into the life of college. It cultivated the anticipation of graduation and spread senioritis throughout the class as many students intently listened to the informative sessions. One notable and passionate participant, Tim Baek (12), stated “I’m not even going to college,” as he remarked about how applicable the lectures were for his bright future.

In the end, the students all despaired at the thought of having to go back to school, as they packed their bags preparing for the depressing march back to Dalat. Overall, the Senior Transition Retreat was quite an enjoyable learning experience.