Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

  Abby O. Right before the 2020-2021 school year started, Mr. Jens more than doubled the number of fish in his tank. Eleven fish joined the tank in Busan, bringing the total of occupants up to twenty. Unfortunately, several of the larger fish that used to occupy the tank passed away over the summer. While they will be missed, students can enjoy getting to know the six green neon tetras and five rainbow fish Mr. Jens added to populate the aquarium. The arrival of new fish further enhances the positive influence of Mr. Jens’ aquarium on his students’ ability to learn as the fish relax the students and create a pleasant environment. Watching fish swim around together in a tank has proven to reduce anxiety levels. This assertion is supported by Ethan Chan (11), who, when asked his opinion on the fish, said, “The fish are amazing. Mr. Jens’ fish have good-natured souls. The fish provide a sense of calm for all the students in the class.” The relaxation that the fish provide Mr. Je...

  By Mikaela Yeap “I missed chapel so much...our first chapel in four months. It was a good break from classes,” Sharisse Leong (12) mused. Dalat held its first chapel of the 2020-2021 school year this Monday. Chapel has been one of the many facets of the Dalat experience lost to COVID-19, among other beloved cornerstones of school life such as off-campus lunch privileges, lunchtime basketball, and open campus on Fridays. Thankfully, unlike the others, chapel is a privilege the community has actually gotten back. It was an unusually empty chapel, the front row seats of Harbor Hall sparsely filled thanks to social distancing—only juniors and seniors were permitted to gather under the SOP, with freshmen and sophomores having taken the previous slot in the morning for a chapel of their own. The worship team, primarily composed of seniors, is a sea of teal shirts this semester; bizarrely, the drum set sits behind a glass wall. But the team sang and played with marked emotion and pa...