Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Tyler Ronning This past weekend Boy Scout Troop 222 went on a camping trip up a local hill named Mt. Zizi. They left to hike up the hill on Frida and camped there for 2 nights before returning down the mountain on Sunday morning. These Boy Scouts were required to hike up all the supplies that they may need for the weekend. Before they went on the campout though they were required to participate in a water hike in order to bring up water for drinking and cooking during the campout. On the day of the campout, they left at around 4:30 to hike up the mountain and arrived at their campsite a bit after an hour and a half later. A current Boy Scout and the previous Senor Patrol Leader, Julien Goh said: “Dom burning our hair Our tents flooding at midnight Agony; despair” He has been on many campouts, and as some people know, where the scouts go, the rain follows. He took this form of writing a quote because one of the fun things that scouts did on their own on the campout was ...

  By Andrew Kaney This past Friday, students taking Leadership Development were excused from classes to have a “retreat” in Ziemer Dorm. In recent years, the class had spent the night on Penang Hill for the retreat, but this year’s trip was cancelled due to the MOE. Despite the cancellation, Mr. Ronzheimer, the school’s Spiritual Life Director, took the opportunity to help the class bond and to teach them about companionship. The retreat started with a morning devotional at the beach and a breakfast of waffles and bacon made by some of the students’ moms. After breakfast, Mr. Ronzheimer led the class through team building activities. During one such activity, students got to know each other through “speed dating.” Members of the class were paired up and given time to get to know each other on a deeper level before rotating partners. After “speed dating”, the class took part in a trust-fall. One-by-one, the students fell backwards off a high ledge as the other students cau...

  By Abigail Soo   After a supremely long wait leading up to Friday, 3rd of October, off-campus lunch for seniors was finally available. During D block on Friday, October 3rd, the classes in the Harbor building were buzzing with excitement due to the ability to go off campus the next block for lunch. Between the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the SOPs that were put in place, going off campus for lunch, a senior privilege, seemed like an impossible feat. In World Literature class, there was a lot of leg tapping going on, nervous glances at the clock, and chatter in the room. All signs pointed to adrenaline coursing through the seniors’ veins as they waited for the glorious sound of the lunch bell. Weeks ago, when the semester started, the SOP caused the launch of disappointing rules, especially for the students of Dalat, who enjoy a close-knit community that loves group activities. The students weren’t allowed to stay on campus after hours for any reason, even for spo...

  By Anya Kaloo For weeks, students of Dalat International High school division have been working diligently to fulfill their aspirations. Sadly, however, this does not leave much time for their favorite pastimes such as sports, hanging out with friends, and exercise. On Monday, 26 October, Mr. Brewster had blessed the students with a Dalat holiday. But little did the students know that this was not a holiday for everyone. Early Monday morning, teachers rolled into school thrilled to go through teacher training. During teacher training day, many students finally found the time to take a break from university searching and school work to have fun and bond with friends. Students enjoyed their time by doing anything that was not related to school. Examples of these games that are commonly played in Dalat is Minecraft, Among Us and sports games. Students that do not spend their time gaming usually find time to make plans to be with friends. As Gabe Kontsas (11) said, “I enjoyed p...

  By Kris Chong   The one-and-only senior class “lock-in” was held on the afternoon of Friday, October 23rd. All of us had the privilege to skip our afternoon classes, and we gathered in the vintage chapel for the lock-in. With Covid cases on the rise in Malaysia, the Ministry of Education had decided to stop all extracurricular activities. Naturally, we have temporally lost the privilege to go off campus for lunch, and there will not be any intramurals for now. We had a class meeting on Tuesday, October 6th. The class committee announced that for our class, there would be two significant activities coming up in the next two months (October and November), the former being the lock-in, and the latter being Senior Sneak. The lock-in was chosen to be held on the Friday after fall break. During the class meeting, Jimin Park (12) told us further information about the lock-in We were all excited because our class is the first class to do this in years, since Dalat decided ...

  By Sharisse Leong Graduation service hours have always been in the minds of high school students. Getting the 10 hours of service by the end of the year is important to them. Though due to the recent outbreak of Covid, it has not been easy to find opportunities to serve. The high schoolers were ready to serve as an email was sent out concerning a service opportunity at the Cat Beach Sanctuary. For the graduation hours to be approved, the project has to be something non-school sponsored. On Tuesday, October 6, Zoe Grous, a senior, sent out an email explaining that she had contacted the people working for the cat beach, stating that they needed volunteers to help out at the shelter. She sent out a signup form, and up to 32 kind-hearted high schoolers were willing to participate. I asked Zoe Grous (12) the question of what inspired her to reach out to the Cat Beach Sanctuary: “Through the Student Impact Club I have been able to reach out to different organizations in Penang, w...

By Alice Yang   After two months of teaching human anatomy class, Mr. Guerrero Angel, the substitute for the incoming teacher, held a small farewell party with the seniors in B block, cherishing the two months of happy memories. Due to the absence of the incoming teacher, Mr. Riffey, who was supposed to be teaching the class, Mr. Guerrero substituted to teach in these two blocks of Human Anatomy. Ever since Mr. Guerrero became a substitute for this class, the students, composed of all seniors, had experienced attentive and enjoyable class learning environments through intriguing laboratories and activities. A vibrant, relaxed class environment and atmosphere have been created through having class activities such as sunscreen lab comparing the level of skin protection of each different sunscreen brand, a "skincare" activity trying out a facial mask and blackhead packs and review games helping the students to learn and prepare for upcoming tests. As Sean Park (12) s...

  By Jeremy Kim The school was empty, with no students to be seen anywhere. What was going on? It was fall break! A week off from school that everyone, even the teachers, was excited about. It was a time to relax and hang out with friends and family.  Fall break was a one-week break where students and teachers can finally let go of anything school-related and enjoy a short rest. Even though people missed school when it was closed due to the pandemic, they can still find school tiring, especially when it takes up a solid 8 hours of their day. Sometimes a good break from school can really help us mentally and physically. Anisha Kaloo (11) said, “ I got to go back to KL over the break and got to spend time with my family and friends.” Students and teachers got to spend this time doing whatever they needed to do: visiting their family, going on a short trip with friends, etc. Students also enjoyed this time since they could do things they liked and get lots of rest at home w...

  By Ally Kim “When I look into the eyes of an animal, I do not see an animal. I see a living being. I see a friend. I see a soul,” said Anthony Douglas Williams, an animal rights activist. Over the 17 th and 18 th of October, Dalat high schoolers had an opportunity to serve animals. Seventy students signed up for this animal service, which far exceeded the expected number. There were two separate programs – one cat focused (at Cat Beach), and one dog focused (at 4PAWS Dog Shelter). Each student was given a chance to choose between the two based on their preference and experience. Despite its distant location and quite inconvenient transportation, many students were more than willing to spend their last two days of fall break on this animal service. The main tasks for both projects were washing, walking, and playing with the animals. There were over one hundred cats and about six hundred dogs in the centers. Many of them had uncomfortable legs and poor visions. Some cats ...

Dorothy Koay What does a small group of fifteen Dalat high schoolers do every Monday to directly impact individuals who are as far as 4,500 miles away? They walk into the Penang classroom during X-Block, with a heart to serve those who are less privileged than them, as members of the From Kids 4 Kids Club. As a devoted and supportive supervisor of the club, Ms. Shawna Wood recounted that the club was first formed seven years ago. It was started by a group of eighth graders who were inspired to serve after a Social Studies lesson that talked about an individual’s rights and responsibilities in their community. As the young servant leaders recognized their potential to bring about positive influence on their community, they reached out to Ms. Wood and decided to form a club where they can carry out realistic plans in hopes of bringing even the smallest change to the world.   From Kids For Kids Club stands with the notion: “No one can do everything, but everyone can do some...

  By Ethan Chan With the ongoing chaos from Covid, many seniors have had their senior sports seasons stolen from them in a bad stroke of luck. On the bright side, this led to the creation of an intramural co-ed sports league that recorded participation from 279 students across both middle and high school. While it may not be the competitive interscholastic environment many varsity players might have been hoping for, the league presents its own relative benefits. Currently supporting two sports, soccer and volleyball, the league shows great representation of a wide variety of skill levels. We have players taken straight from the varsity teams, but the majority of players in the league have little to no experience with their respective sport. To some, this intramural experience is serving as an introduction to a sport they might have wanted to play, but never had the chance to. In addition, the league also has the added virtue of being inconsequential, which makes for intense gam...

  By Jimin Park   Six months have gone by since the school filled up the liveliness of sports. There were no sounds of bouncing basketballs, hitting volleyballs, kicking soccer balls, and last but not least, the sound of people. Yet, this was all changed by an email sent by Mr. Davis on September 9 th : “HS Intramural Sign-Ups (Due Thursday @7: 00 pm).” That was enough to bring life back to Dalat. Everyone was talking about the Intramurals – deciding whether they would join either soccer or volleyball, persuading their friends to play the same sports, and expressing how they were so ready for this change.   58 people signed up for soccer, and 77 people signed up for volleyball, which exhibited the excitement of students playing sports with friends after school. The teams were mixed throughout the grade and gender, having everyone from freshman to seniors, girls and boys, and a few varsity players on each team. Some seniors were denoted as team captains to lead so ...

  By Yebeen Kil The hallways of the Dalat high school buildings lit up colorfully as the students moved from one room to the next, trying to get to their next classes. On the 23rd of September, students donated RM 10 each to the Student Impact Club’s charity fundraiser in order to participate in No Uniform Day. The students received a ribbon—that they could pin to their clothes—after they made their donation, showing that they had paid to wear their own clothes. Students of all grades took this opportunity to express themselves and to have fun. The middle school students dressed up in animal costumes such as lions and unicorns, while some of the high schoolers wore matching outfits.   Students were to wear one of the corresponding colors, orange, green, white, blue, or pink. These colors all symbolized things that the students could support. If students supported the homeless, they could wear the color white. The color orange meant that the students supported orphans, gr...

  By Kalia Brewster Before lockdown happened, sports were one of the most time-consuming, important, and enjoyable parts of my day. After school, I could hardly wait to leave the classroom and get out on the field or court — to play a game that I loved with people that I loved and coaches who invested deeply in me. Nothing has quite impacted my life in the way sports has. It is hard for me to describe how something that has been part of my life since I can remember has been so formative.  I know that many others feel the same way about sports and how it has shaped them. Esther Tse (12) said about sports and how it impacted her life, “Sports has helped me not only work on my personal skills but also work on communication skills and the ability to understand each other’s strengths.” Sports has a profound and sometimes unseen effect on athletes. Not only the physical aspect of sports, but the emotional, mental, and relational challenges that it presents helps athletes become ...

By Esther Yang Due to the pandemic, the Music Department announced recently that there would not be any live concert performances this semester. But students still get to perform what they have learned in class differently, by recording videos. The current situation changed many aspects of our society, especially in the Music Department. Band trips and choir trips are canceled, and there is no showchoir or men’s and women’s ensemble rolling in this period. So right now, there is only one choir happening: the concert choir. This year’s choir is filled with talented people from different grades. However, since the students didn’t get a chance to bond by going on the trip, the class’s vibe is different compared to the previous years. Moreover, when school had just started, many students seemed like they gave up on having a concert. Students learned various songs without the certainty of having a performance. However, one day, Ms. Goh surprised the students by announcing that there would b...

  By Joel Kelley The never-ending question among students of whether or not uniforms should exist at Dalat will finally be answered this Wednesday on September 23rd -- but only for 8 hours. For as long as anyone can remember, Dalat International School has had required uniforms that all students must wear throughout the school day. While they have changed over the years, two things have stayed the same: the Dalat logo on the right side of the chest and the portion of the student body who wishes they could wear t-shirts to school. However, the uniform policy does not exist to torment these wishful students. Rather, the policy exists to encourage unity within our school and maintain modesty and image on a large scale. While a sense of unity on the school campus is a goal for the staff, yet another holds high value in their eyes: community service. Every year, students are encouraged to engage in service opportunities regularly, not just within the Dalat community but in the large...

  By OnYou Kim Seven STEP students, who stayed an additional month in Korea due to the MCO extension, returned to school on September 14th. The journey of the students began on the evening of August 29th at the Incheon Airport; the group involved OnYou Kim (12), Sieon Park (12), Grace Bae (11), Haeon Park (11), Sharon Kang (10), Hajin Kim (7), and Joseph Lim (7). The plane ride took approximately six hours, and their arrival at the KL Airport signaled their five hours of immigration. Downloading and signing into an app was the first step. The second step involved getting numerous documents verified and the COVID test done in the nose and mouth. The final step was the passport check, which took the longest with nearly four hours of waiting. After claiming their luggage, the students were led outside where Uncle Brian Weidemann, one of the dorm representatives, was waiting to drive them to Penang. While wearing enormous protective suits, the students were taken to Penang in a v...

  By Jia Yi Sim Restrictions from the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) that began in the June of 2020 have caused a slowdown in numerous businesses, one of them being Dalat’s Junior Class Store. The MCO prevented the store from operating after school, which has generated the most income for the juniors in the past. Right now, juniors are stuck selling snacks in between classes, and the store only actively operates for about 15 minutes a day. Such a narrow window of time makes it difficult for the store to collect large amounts of income each day.  Helen Jang, a member of the junior class office, voices her concerns about their sales: “We had a head start because last year’s juniors donated many goods to us, but with the restrictions of MCO, I am worried that we will not earn as much money as we hope to.” For many years, working in the Junior Class Store has served as the long-awaited experience for juniors. Spending long days after school in the store can be tiri...

  By Min-Song Ko The seniors were given the opportunity to share, listen, and serve the freshmen on Wednesday, the 9th of September. The lunch line was crowded with an unusual mix of students, hungry for food. The seniors walked into the overcrowded gym with an excited heart to meet their arranged freshman partners, sitting patiently at their table. With their innocent eyes, the freshmen seemed nervous to listen to what story awaited them.  At first, it took a lot of courage to bring up a conversation, striving to cut the awkward silence filling the area. Students showed their habits of grinding their teeth, biting off their nails, or scratching their scalp repeatedly every time the conversation went silent. While the seniors were hesitant, looking down at their lunch and showed signs of helplessness. The thought of an idea popped up. Grasping the white activity paper in between their lunch trays, the seniors thought of playing several games with their partners. A few mi...

  By Zoe Seevaratnam   Leadership Development is an optional class where students grow in spiritual truths while leading others to do the same. This year, however, has posed some challenges in ways the class can exhibit leadership practically. However, this past week has provided the course with a unique and creative outlet to demonstrate spiritual leadership--leading chapel. The process of planning to lead the chapel made students aware of the need for God's presence and the importance of gratitude. A theme needed to be established, yet a whimsical idea cannot be enough when it comes to a chapel topic. Mr. Ronzhiemer told the class to pray before discussing ideas within groups. “Pray first” has become the unofficial class motto, as they have learned that they need to acknowledge God before planning anything. This motto proved evident during the class planning session as a common theme occurred during small group discussions--gratitude. Gratitude repeatedly appeared on the...

  By Alix Stuart             Try this, hit the computer space bar, then scroll back up. Just try it. S P A C E. Hit it a few times. What if instead of putting a space into a document, it deleted a character. Now after years of using the keyboard one way, getting used to typing differently will take time.  With space between normality and reality rapidly increasing amongst the new regulations with coronavirus, God is in control and always has His hands on the keyboard. Mr. Brewster, Dalat’s high school principal, perfectly explains the struggles of social distancing, a new reality on Dalat campus: “Afterschool social-distancing has not gone well. It’s not surprising. It is unnatural to stand far apart; it is hard to hear each other through a mask; the rule does not always make sense, and sometimes you just forget.” Change is hard. Changing habits is even harder. Not giving high fives and “hugging” from a distance is weird. Not being able to...

  By Jared Douglas Have you ever wondered what it is like to be in the STEP program? Keilah Pickett, a Dalat 10th grader, is sadly stuck in her home country of Brunei. She has given us some insight into what her day as a STEP student is like. We all remember the time when we had to do online school during lockdown. Those were the days of waking up late, procrastinating, struggling to understand some of the lessons, and wishing to be with our classmates. What is it like knowing everyone else is at school, and you are stuck in the STEP program ,1000 miles away, having left your previous school, and not knowing when you will be at school face to face? During these times, a STEP student must dig deep to persevere, stay focused, and remain positive during this lonely and uncertain time. Keilah starts her day at 7:30 am with a walk around her community to get the blood pumping to the brain. Her first Zoom call is at 8.25 AM, and she does not leave her desk much until lunchtime. U...