Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Daye Jung Every weekday, my afternoon consists of extremely brain-power required classes: AP statistics, Christ and Culture, and finally, AP English Literature and Composition. The two Advanced placement classes sandwich the harder of the two senior Bible classes taught by Mr. Patrick Kilgo. Christ and Culture is a semester-long Bible class all seniors are required to take. The curriculum requires all students to participate in discussions regarding debated topics around 1 st world countries. The point of this class is to prepare Christian teenagers who are about to embark on a new world. The real world. Full of alcohol, drugs, and dying in their 50s. All sarcasm aside, being confined in this Christian bubble for 10 years has really dulled my sense of reality. I’ve only seen two extremes portrayed to me in media, trying to show how beautiful or miserable one’s life is. Christian censorship blinds one’s eyes, and Christ and Culture opens them--slowly, but surely. Many di...

By Jia Yi Lim             Death is the killer of the life that we cherish, but at the same time, it can bring beauty in our lives―if we let it. As uncomfortable as the thought is for many of us, we will have to face its full power one day. For some of us, it can mean a new journey; for others, it can mean the absolute end of everything. Whether into the afterlife or into nothing, we will have to leave those wonderful memories behind one day. For many of us, a small death is already waiting a few months away.             This is our last semester, fellow seniors. After that, we will embark on the next journey. Some memories will perish. Some of us may never see each other again. We will lose the little moments that we enjoy here every day. Only when we prepare to go our separate ways will we understand the gravity of the word “goodbye.” As much as we love our friends, c...

By Laviynia Menon You do it all the time. On the way to school, finishing your assignments, getting work done. We rush all the time. Some may argue that rushing is largely situational; that it only happens when we’re running late or failing to meet a time obligation. While that may be true, it doesn’t encapsulate all the other times that we look straight ahead instead of at what’s around us, like horses on a race track.   I was talking to some middle schoolers a while back, and out of jest, I asked them why they were participating in so many activities when they didn’t have the least bit of interest in them. I was expecting some sort of reply on the basis that it was to hang out with friends, but instead, their replies came easily, automatically, even. “My mom says it will look good for me to do that when I go to college.” I had to stop and process that for a while. These kids weren’t even in high school, and they were already acting in accordance with things they w...

By Jae Cho             The varsity guys and girls basketball team headed to Manila, Philippines on February 11th for the ACSC tournament. As I was part of the varsity basketball team, this trip was unique and different because it was going to be my last ACSC trip. I knew that during this trip, it was going to be something more than just competing and playing basketball. It was also about building more memories and friendships as I wanted to capture every moment with my friends. On the last game before the actual playoff game, I went up for a layup and got fouled and landed on somebody's feet. At that moment, I heard a loud pop in my ankle area, and I fell down in pain. As I was carried on to the medical bed by Coach Lee and Wansuk Kunawaradisai, I had a lot of stuff going through my mind. I was mad, sad, and devastated. I was mostly devastated and heartbroken because I knew that I would not be able to play anymore. As I wa...

By Corinne Fraley “We’ve been planning to take over the world, is that ok?“ After a conversing and heckling among a group of guys during one of Miss Keister’s AP World class, Jarrett Lohman (11) asked this question to his history teacher. Without batting an eye Miss Keister responded deadpan, “Yes, but not in my class. This is a benevolent dictatorship.”    Miss Keister is one of the new arrivals to Dalat’s high school, only beginning teaching at the start of the 2019-2020 year- and thus far she has built quite the repertoire. From teaching Bible 9, to Media Lit, to Capstone, all in impeccable attire, Miss Keister has cemented herself within a variety of subjects among all high school grade groups with her dry witty and amiable nature. Though, she has, perhaps, made one of the largest impacts by teaching her favorite subject in her AP World History class. Made up of primarily sophomores with an odd junior and senior thrown in, AP World, for years, has been notorious...

By Aaron Worten This is it. My last ACSC and basketball tournament as a high school player. I woke up at three in the morning, and my dad drove my sister and I to Dalat. I saw all my teammates with messy hair and tired faces. A senior on the team, Onyu Kwak, even forgot his bag, the one thing he needed to bring. We sat around for everyone to arrive, and we got on the bus to the airport and started our journey to Manila. This ACSC basketball tournament was unlike any other ACSC in the history of the conference, due to the coronavirus. Many teams dropped out of the tournament, and this was the first year where boys and girls would be traveling together. It was a bit disappointing at first hearing that there would only be four teams coming to the tournament, but as a team, we decided that we were going to make the most of it. The four teams coming were Grace, Faith, Dalat, and Morrison. When we arrived in Manila, we got more bad news, Morrison had come, and they got detained and...

By Elizabeth Horton Service, often times, is the exact opposite of what it’s expected to be. Though that may sound strange, we go into service expecting to give, but sometimes, we end up receiving more ourselves! I lived out this truth while on my Impact trip to Northern Borneo. I had full intentions to give up my time and energy to make some sort of difference in a stranger’s life. What I didn't expect was for those strangers to leave a permanent impact on my heart.                  On January 23rd, a team of 11 Dalat students touched down in Northern Borneo for their Impact trip. Throughout the week they would run a beach activity day for handicapped children, dig mountain bike trails, and visit a children's hospital. Most of the trip was spent working in the jungle, but for one morning the team got to play with the children at a local hospital.   When we reached the hospital, we split into group...

By Luke Lindsey On February 6 th , the Leadership class was blessed with the opportunity of a two-night retreat to the Cameron highlands. Over many hours of time spent together, our class and teachers developed a special bond with each other. In addition, the presence of God was present the whole trip, leaving no one untouched by his love. No one was ready for what God has in store for us this trip.                 The trip started off with a 5-hour bus ride, although it didn’t seem so. Jamming to loud music, sharing stories, and our excitement for the next couple days made the trip seem short. After arriving at the guest house, our hungry bellies were joyed to find an amazing meal prepared for us by the McClary’s. We finished the night by spending some time with God in worship.                 In the morning, we surrounded around ...

By Christina Beaman   “Spill the tea, lets go!” said Mr. Ronzheimer as Lydia Brooks (12) and Hannah Peek (12) started sharing funny stories about their past, but this was cut short by a voice from the back of the van. “Dad, I’m hungry!” said Joseph Chandra (12) to Mr. Kirk Ronzheimer, the “dad” of the 15 students in a van on the way to Cameron highlands for the leadership class retreat. “Do you want a granola bar?” yelled Luke Lindsey (12) from the front seat as he chucked a granola bar at Joseph. “Dad, are we there yet?” added Duncan Magruder (12). Some people put in their headphones to block out the loud noise, while others laughed and added to the sound by yelling “shut up” to Joseph and Duncan. After a five-hour bus ride, the van pulled up to the guest house where the students would spend their retreat. Since it was already night time, they ate dinner and then went to bed. The next morning started with a solo reflection time and then a group time where guys and gi...

By Hannah Peek This past Thursday the fifteen-person Leadership Development class piled into a van and drove up to Cameron Highlands for a weekend of relaxation and future planning. Little did we know how God would change our lives in this time and form a family. After a crazy van ride, we arrived at a quaint guest house in the Cameron Highlands and our team set out on a journey of many discoveries and tears. It began by taking a lot of time to ourselves, we had time to appreciate God’s creation through our house’s stunning views and beautiful garden as we considered our spiritual lives. Then we were encouraged by our teachers, Mr. Ronzheimer and Mr. McClary, to express what we had realized during these times with others. Ultimately the vulnerability shared during the small groups would collide in the climax of the trip; a five-hour long action of God. “The most memorable part of the whole trip was the five-hour long prayer,” says Lydia Brooks (12), “It was really cool how we c...

By Mao Inoue January 25th was the Chinese New Year’s Day. Within about seven years of staying in Malaysia, I have experienced the first Chinese New Year party on this day and obtained some cultural knowledge and images regarding how people celebrate New Years here. When people experience Japanese and Chinese styles, they will discover that they have some similarities, but at the same time, they have their own way to celebrate too. Japanese New Years is the first of January. Throughout the new year holiday, we gather with family and relatives and have a reunion time. Buddhist temples perform the tolling of a bell 108 times, starting from midnight on New Year’s Eve. Although there are some opinions about the 108 tolls of the bell, the most famous reason is that it symbolizes the casting away of 108 earthly desires, bonnou , which are believed to cause human suffering. On New Year's Day, people visit Shinto shrines to offer prayers and draw a fortune slip. They offer a l...

By Grace Moon One simple question can take you a long way. It can even steer your career preference for the next fifty years. Here’s how. Imagine yourself sitting down next to Johannes Vermeer as he paints a fresh stroke of bright ultramarine blue onto his canvas for the first time. Why is it that he’s never had the chance to use blue before this? It’s because for the most part, looking back in history, color came from the earth, which meant that different geographical regions had different colors to offer. The blue I told you about was actually from a gemstone called lapis lazuli, and Vermeer probably got his small share of the expensive treasure all the way from Afghanistan -- a perfect story of how movement of culture was more than just ideas or trinkets, but whole new experiences. But with OLED displays and CMYK cartridges, we don’t see instances like this anymore--it’s nearly impossible to come across unfamiliar colors today, in spite of the fact that just a few...