Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Carissa Hoffmeyer The final Fine Arts Festival came and went the week of May 20-24; as Mr. Steinkamp stated, “We never think we can do better than the year before, but we always do!”  The talent that Dalat has never ceases to amaze the audience. Wednesday night, the auditorium was packed, with hardly enough room to fit all the adoring fans, as middle school performed a wonderful concert. Thursday night, the fun continued with the MS and HS Jazz bands. At one point, the two came together to play one song. Next came the Junior Men's Ensemble. They had the audience cracking up with their rendition of “Country Roads.” They then left us with a warm, heartfelt song entitled “My Girl.” Finally, Show Choir silently made their way on stage, fully dressed in nun costumes (with the help of Ms. Geiman); their songs from Sister Act, Part I and II, had the crowd clapping and cheering along. Their songs featured solos from Bethany Davis (12), Daniel Choi (10), Joel Kelley (10), Seth ...

Suzanne Liew AP exams are finally over, but the students are busier than ever. Feet scurrying everywhere, the Harbor Deck and Hall are filled with art students from Foundation Art, Advanced Art, Master Studio, and AP Art. The students rush to prepare and set up the artwork, making sure everything looks aesthetically pleasing. Meanwhile, the art room is messier than ever, full of art students preparing their signs for the exhibition. Alex Stuart (10) and Kalia Brewster (10) are busy sorting out art prints, postcards and decks of cards for the art sale later in the evening. The AP students, Alicia Chin (12), Suzanne Liew (12), Gloria Kim (11), Grace Moon (11) and Philip Yeoh (12), are busy preparing for their speed painting performance, too. The artwork is finally set up after a few days, where students and parents can appreciate the hard work of the students throughout the year.  It is Friday evening, the last day of the Fine Arts Festival. Food trucks drive onto t...

Sin Ler Oo Previously, the 8th and 9th graders were assigned with a task to build a miniature wooden bridge. May 18th was the day their hard work was tested to see the force their bridges could withhold. A dull creaking reverberated through the room as the audience stared at the bridge with bated breath. Gradually, the little wooden structure began to bend before a sharp snapping was heard, and the beautiful piece of architecture would never be the same again. To any stranger that happened to enter the room without context, it must have been astonishing indeed when the room burst into applause over the destruction of the intricate bridge. For those in the loop, however, May 18th served as the day in which students competed with each other over the sturdiest (while being as light as possible) bridge. Unfortunately for them, the only way to do so was to break them. That day, many 8th and 9th graders gathered around in Auckland to test the strength of their hard work. Formerly, the ...

Jacqueline Leech Everyone loves garage sales. As it is termed, a man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Dalat’s end of the year garage sale turned out like the many garage sales before it—hot and sweaty, yet productive. Early Saturday morning, crowds of people joined together for the garage sale to sell their miscellaneous items, hoping to get something out of the things they no longer had use for. The mix of agendas reflected the mood of the garage sale. Give, take away, give, and take away. People bought items unique to their wants and needs , while people sold items unique to their situation, whether it was a needed household purge or part of the process of moving to other locations. During the event, both parties happily accepted offers and bargains. By the end of the sale, prices dropped ridiculously. At that point, many simply wanted to get rid of their items. Joyfully, customers quickly accepted cheaper prices as the event was coming to a close. Those who oft...

John Cho “Cheap, Cheap things. Come look and check it out everyone!” shouted Jong Min Park (11).     A garage sale is a common thing that happens in Western culture; however, in the Asian culture, it is not as common. In Korea, we tend to give away things that are not wanted, instead of selling them. Despite experiencing a different culture, I think I really enjoyed it because it was fun seeing the different types of things sold at the garage sale. I woke up early in the morning, and as soon as I went to the basketball court, I set up my things. The court was so crowded, and I could manage to find a small space to set my table and sell my things. I saw the Frohlich family selling their nice things due to their departure to America after graduation, and I also saw one of my dorm brothers selling his clothes. As time went by, the sun was blazing down on the court and Daniel Choi (10) said, “John, it is so hot…. I just want to leave.” And as soon as he ...

Kimberly Hills What comes to mind when you hear the word “StuCo”? For many Dalat high school students, we think of unity, school spirit, and fun! This past Friday, Dalat International School’s Student Council hosted its last event from 7-9:30: Mugs, Music, & Monopoly, or “Mugs” for short.  At Mugs, students have the opportunity to share their musical talents. Or, they have the chance to make others laugh at their lack thereof. In this supportive and light-hearted atmosphere, people are unafraid to put themselves out there or try something new. For many, Mugs is a relaxed time to chill with friends, devour junk food, and play card games.  Several students were moved by the spontaneity of the night, and on a whim, followed that little voice in the back of their mind, prodding them to perform. Audrey Shing (12), new to Dalat this year, spontaneously walked on stage and sang “This Time” by Lea Michelle and Darren Criss. When asked about why she wanted to perform, ...

Jeremy Worten It's about that time of year again, the clock counting down, students don't know what to feel towards the end of a school year. "Have I done enough?", "O shoot! What am I going to do all summer?" These types of thoughts naturally come into the minds of students, and they might cause uneasiness but... have peace and breathe because everything is going to be okay. AP's are approaching, and its ride or die time. The pressure is on, and all that work is about to be tested. All those countless hours put in, extra teachers’ sessions, caffeine runs, and sleepless nights. “Can I do this?” Everyone handles adversity differently, and right now, people are preparing themselves in their own different ways but... have peace and breathe because everything is going to be okay. Like I said earlier, APs are approaching and the school year is almost done, but there is still time, and there are still cool things that happen on the island. Rec...

Jackson Miller After a whole semester of memorization and hundreds of hours of rehearsals and construction, the first ever Broadway musical at Dalat opened its doors on Friday evening last week. Students in the Dalat Drama program got a chance to perform in the critically acclaimed 50-year-old musical You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown . The cast included new initiates into the world of theatrics, Daniel Choi (11) and Benjamin Hollon (9), who played Schroeder and Linus respectively. Both performed extremely impressively. Their singing voices and acting abilities spoke volumes about a potential future in show business, if they so choose. Mr. Franceschi, who was the technical director of the show and has an extensive background in theatre, said, “Daniel was a delightful surprise of the show! He has great potential ahead of him.” Benjamin had the guts and confidence to create his own dance with a blanket, which was well executed and should have been taken with the utmost serio...

Vivien Chang  What comes to mind when Hollywood and musical eras are mentioned? 2019 JSB, The Awards! After a long year of preparation, the juniors successfully pulled off one of the best and funniest JSBs to honor this year’s seniors. As the night came to an end, Nicholas Khor (12), the senior class president, announced, “Juniors, you are invited to the After JSB Dinner!”  After JSB Dinner, also called a spoof, is where seniors find very small mistakes during JSB and recreate them in order to show appreciation for the juniors. However, this also meant that seniors returned home late on the previous night and arrived at school early in the morning the next day. As tiring as it may sound, seniors were still more than willing to come early, as we were excited for the last workday we had together with each other and the excitement for the dinner.  Working from 9am to around 4pm, the seniors came up with a new spoof theme—Bollywood: the Re-wards—to contrast with the the...

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...