Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

  By Sieon Park Grace Bae (11), a Jackson Dorm student, opened her eyes on one unusually quiet Friday morning, 30 April. When she checked her clock, she noticed that the time was well past 10:00 A.M. Although alarmed at the thought of being late to school at first, upon realizing that it was a day off, she happily went back to her bed. The long weekend in the dorm started with breakfast at the Ziemer Dorm. After sleeping in, students from all three dorms–Jackson, Jaffray, and Ziemer– went down to Ziemer, located on the first floor of the building, for their first meal of the day. Ziemer dorm provided students with glazed donuts, various fruits such as watermelons, bananas, passion fruits, and grapes, and drinks including milo and juice. As students ate, some talked with each other, watched sports shows on television, and played board games. This marked a restful beginning of students’ long weekend.  During the afternoon, each dorm student spent their time diversely. Many...

  By Abel Tan Walking into City Light Church not knowing what to expect, the Seniors finally had their long awaited class activity! On Friday, April 23 rd , the Senior class attended a worship night that was planned by their very own class president, Daniel Choi. For more than a year now, the pandemic known as covid-19 has greatly affected the whole world negatively, and this is especially true for Dalat’s class of 2021. Starting with the cancellation of the JSB they themselves were supposed to host, a series of disappointments continued to greet them as they entered their last year in Dalat. Daniel Choi even said: “I felt numb throughout the year, and I felt it in my class. It was as if God had forgotten us for a whole year. But truth is, he never left us, he was building patience in us for THIS MOMENT RIGHT NOW!” This was said during the Worship Night. The night started off with Ms. Henderson providing an icebreaker, in which some volunteers were to throw a tennis ball in...

  By Seung Hwan Kim Dalat has been filled with excitement over the announcement of SEW (Spiritual Emphasis Week). SEW has been a tradition throughout Dalat International School as students and teachers could take a week to focus on God and their spiritual journey. Despite the issue with SOP from covid, seniors from the leadership class were able to make SEW happen. On the 26th of April, high school students were instructed to go down to the nostalgic Vintage Chapel during A or B block according to their grades for SEW. As all the students and teachers were seated, the worship team started off the morning with a lively song called One Way by Hillsong Worship, followed by other worship songs. Seniors from the leadership class filled the atmosphere with energy as they danced and sang their hearts out. Shortly after the worship, Daniel Choi (12) introduced Pastor Timothy. Timothy shared his story of his wife's miscarriage. On her second pregnancy, symptoms of miscarriage showed aga...

  By Kevile Dolie It's always nice to greet a friend, chat about a topic, talk about their day and crack jokes. Such days have become genuinely significant, especially in these difficult times. Yet, eventually, no matter what happens, those days will come to an end, and people will go their separate ways. For the seniors, that time is coming soon. The last month of the school year inspires students to make the most of the time they have left to finish the year without regrets. After a year of isolation due to Covid, the urge to cherish small moments of friendship has never been stronger. Most students are thinking about making the most of the time they have left. Some may wonder how much more time they could have spent with their friends throughout the years. Now is an excellent time to ask self-reflective questions and turn any regrets into inspiration. How do I want to spend my time during my last few weeks of school? How can I show my friends how much I appreciate them befor...

  By Sumin Lim As staff and students entered the school campus on Monday, the school campus began to look like an airport. Starting from April 12th to April 16th, students and teachers were allowed to dress up according to the day’s theme as part of Dalat’s traditional fashion week. Each day had a different theme that was addressed to the Dalat community and challenged each grade to participate. The grade that had the highest proportion of participants would get to leave their D Block class five minutes early to get their lunch before everyone else. This caused each grade to unite and fight for the privilege of leaving class early. The week started with the theme of ‘Tacky Tourist’. Students wore light and colorful clothes with shades and other accessories. Tuesday was ‘Character Day’. Most students dressed up as their favorite characters from movies, shows, or even cartoons. Wednesday was ‘Grade Rep Day’ where students had to dress up in their class colors. Every grade had a...

  By John Kim As the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year arrived, so did Mr. Trevor Riffey and his wife. He is currently 26 and from Rancho Cucamonga, Southern California. Previously working as a certified athletic trainer in a high school in Arizona and in physical therapy clinics, Mr. Riffey caught sight of Dalat and wanted “to do athletic training at a place that never had athletic training or sports medicine.” Mr. Riffey also wanted to try something new as he said, “I wanted to go into the teaching world.” Mr. Riffey teaches Human Anatomy and Physiology in high school and P.E. for Elementary classes. With only a few weeks left of the second semester, Mr. Riffey, fortunately, adjusted comfortably to the new school culture. He says, “I like the Dalat community because people are inclusive. We were made to feel right at home as soon as we got here. And that was nice because it was my first time overseas. I also enjoy the support of the community.” Thanks to Dalat’s ov...

  By Ji Ah Choi Resisting the temptation to stay in bed on a holiday morning, the freshmen class had a service project on Monday after spring break. They arrived at school at around 8:30 am for this service activity, and about half of the freshmen class participated in this activity where they cleaned cars. This activity took around 1:30 hours, and they served until 10:00 am.  Right before their return to school after spring break, the freshmen did a meaningful activity. Numerous cars were parked in the parking lot, and the freshmen started to clean every one of the cars. From cleaning the exterior of the car to cleaning even the tires, freshmen have diligently invested their time into this service activity.  Not only did they clean cars, but they also wrote encouragement letters and gave those to all the car owners. The freshmen class divided themselves into two groups, where one group wrote cards containing encouraging messages, and the other cleaned the cars. The...

  By Zoey Ong Spring, succeeding the winter and preceding the summer, is a season when life blooms with everything unleashing wonders. It has a touch of gentle spirit that warms up the heart and soul of all living things. When spring proceeds, the plants will sprout, the flowers will blossom, and the tree leaves will unfurl themselves. Likewise, spring break for Dalat is the time for replenishment, making connections and soul searching. In Dalat's recent newsletter, Mr. Steinkamp shows inspiration as he writes that his "hope for the students, staff, and parents of the Dalat community is that over the next week we will be able to get the rest we need to let our souls catch up with us ." During regular school days, everybody who sets foot in Dalat carries a purpose that awaits fulfillment. The students work hard for challenges in their way of achieving academics and relationship goals. The parents make time for pick-ups and are selfless in their support for students...

By Ziyu Moey   What’s the difference between school breaks and online learning? The answer is that you actually have a break from all the burden that school might have given you. However, the definition of what a break really does to you might slowly be overshadowed by the experience that is online learning. Back in the days when the world wasn’t in a dumpster fire, the differences between holidays and schooldays were easily shown. At the eve of the break, we would normally sigh in relief that school was over. This time though, some people might have had thoughts like, ‘what’s the difference between holidays and school days anymore?’ ‘What’s the point of having a break again if we can’t even do much now?’ With all these possible thoughts, there are still some people who think that breaks hold some value. Maybe it’s because these people have become numb to these kinds of situations, as a junior described it. “Holidays just don’t really have the same impact that they used to have....

  By Sean Park Boom. Seniors were gone. March was an exciting month for especially the seniors because they had their senior sneak and mid-semester break. When seniors came back from their sneak, they only had one week of school, and they dove right into their one week of mid-semester break. The mid-semester break was full of a lot of different events. Despite having a break from school, the seniors were still excited for the mid-semester break. “It was so relaxing, and I was even more excited to hang out more with my friends following my senior sneak. The one week of school felt very different because I was already ready to be done,” said Ally Kim (12). Despite being restricted in many activities, people were able to enjoy their break in many different ways. One primary way was Easter. Families were able to glorify God and celebrate Jesus rising from the dead; churches had small gatherings. Some of the Dalat Senior boys with some underclassmen had the chance to play against ...

By Lydia Neeley Recently students have been able to attend school once again in person. Since the beginning of 2021, students have been stuck in the online school. Just trying to get through the day. Online school was either something students loved or hated; there wasn't much of an in-between. Now that students have been back in school for over three weeks, we can hear their opinions about being back. I've had the opportunity to converse with many different people and hear about their opinions about being back. Many have said both good things and things they have missed about being online. Overall the students have said that they are enjoying being back, just in other words. In the words of Hailey Hofer (10), "I miss sitting in my pjs in class but I like being back in person." I believe that most of us probably miss something like that about being online. Many people commented on the best part of being in person was their ability to see their friends and interact...