Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

  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...