Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

 By Ji Hwan Kang I have senioritis. According to Merriam-Webster, the meaning of senioritis is “an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.” I thought this phenomenon was fake and all the past seniors were just making excuses to not do work. As you can see by the title, I was wrong. It truly started after the first week of senior year. I was one determined boy in a purple shirt to finish off my high school career with a bang. That didn’t go as planned as I had other factors that blocked me from really concentrating in high school. Schoolwork wasn’t a big factor in my life then and almost for everyone because we were too focused on my college applications as it was due before Christmas break. After semester 1 flew by with college apps done, I prioritized hanging out with my friends over my schoolwork. I was leaving everything up to the last minute as possible to submit. I even finished my handbook quiz at 1:20 PM on Mon...

  By Yong-Yu Huang In November, we shuffled into the newly-completed Galley, marveling over the curving limbs of the octopus mural in the corner and the cushioned booths, pristine and untouched. Ahead, our cafeteria staff carefully scooped crisp salads and heaping mounds of rice onto uniform blue trays as the high school waited in awkwardly-spaced lines.  We’ve come a long way since then––now, seniors have finally been granted their long-awaited lunch privileges.  “Tantalizing,” Esmarie de Jager (12) announces when asked for a word to describe the experience. The week after Chinese New Year break, seniors began spilling off campus, excited to roam around in the allotted 40 minutes. Especially as more and more seniors have been able to obtain their licenses, the food options have only increased.  “Senior lunch privileges are a treat, but oftentimes, the service is pretty slow at these restaurants,” Liwei Koh (12) muses. For example, a group of seniors coming back acro...

By Grace Chung Last Friday, during chapel, we watched a video created by the Leadership Development class about a cup filled with water. The controversy surrounding the cup was whether the cup was half-full or half-empty. An optimistic person would see the cup as half empty, and a pessimistic person would view the cup as half-full.  After the video, Pastor Bob began narrating the unlucky events that happened to him and his wife during their honeymoon in Venezuela to illustrate the value of staying optimistic. When the couple arrived in Venezuela, their luggage did not arrive on time, so they wore their thick Canadian clothes under the scorching heat. Moreover, due to the luggage arriving late, they had no credit card and had to survive with the bit of traveler's check they had for four days. Despite these unlucky events that could have ruined their entire honeymoon trip, they remained hopeful and trusted God. Although the couple’s issues were not resolved immediately, their optimis...

  By Max Chang As the second month of 2022 began, the world slowly made its move to return to how it had been for the last tens and hundreds of years. And of course, at the school, sports are coming back to its spot along with all the other things. When the pandemic hit the world, it changed so many things of this world, and everything that seemed normal was no longer a thing from loads of restrictions set upon humanity. The common idea of physical socializing was not very common anymore, and sports were no exception. After school, lunchtime, and morning, intramurals were allowed in school at no time of the day, and this has brought a frown upon many community students. There were times in the middle of the pandemic in which minimal sports were returned to the community, but of course, no one thought that was enough, and even to make that worse, these things did not last very long. But this time, things were a little different, or perhaps, very different. As February starte...

By Esther Lo  I don't think it's talked about enough how easily someone can die. Walking on the sidewalk, a car, boom, dead. Swimming in a pool, a toe cramp, bloop, dead. With the spread of the pandemic, the truth of the futility of human life has been further amplified. The hallways after school are now empty. The grass on the field has all grown back from the lack of soccer boys tearing it apart with their cleats. You are now told to literally keep your distance instead of embracing new friends.  Many of the alumni had previously expressed their jealousy of the Class of 2022—being able to experience the rise of the new Castle building, the new Harbor building, the new cafeteria, the new dormitories, so many new facilities etc. However, contrary to all that was envisioned, these buildings were left unutilized for months on end, not even an echo to be heard. The pandemic has forever changed the lives of Dalat students. It's stolen all sense of normalcy and youth. Th...

By Tawan Teekaariyapak     As January came to an end, all the students were blessed with 5 restful days off of school in celebration of Chinese New Year. The long-awaited break that everyone, especially the dorm students, were looking forward to since many dorm activities were planned for the break.   The dorm council organized a range of activities and one or two took place almost every day of the break. On the first day, Ziemer dorm went down to Batu Ferringhi to get Chinese food from a restaurant called “Knife and Fork” in the spirit of Chinese New Year. To end the day off, we went to McDonald’s and got ourselves ice cream cones for dessert.   We began the second day with an all-dorm church service held in the vintage chapel. Uncle Tony, Jackson’s new dorm dad, shared a sermon then Juyoung Kim (12), Caleb Jun (10), Sandy Choi (9), and Uncle Keith led worship. After the service, everyone went off in their own groups to practice for the upcoming talent show ...

  By Timothy Santiago Excitement filled the air as students made their way to lunch. The clamoring had died down a bit, but the prospect of intramural sports returning brightened everyone’s day. As unexpected as Mr. Davis’s chapel announcement was, students welcomed it enthusiastically. After a year and half of being stuck in a pandemic, even things as simple of after school sports caused quite a stir. Almost immediately people began discussing which sports they would play. The first three were basketball, soccer, and volleyball. Many former JV and Varsity players prepared to return to their favorite sports while many new players looked forward to joining in as well. Everything was set up in such a way as to welcome players of any skill level. Basketball was divided into boy’s and girl’s teams with seniors as team captains. Volleyball and soccer teams, on the other hand, were co-ed also with seniors as team captains. With forms turned in and teams created, students waited in ...

  By Hannah Pickett Six years ago, Uncle Scott Poulter stepped foot on the Dalat campus as a dorm assistant. He has bright, strawberry blonde hair and limits his wardrobe to black, grey, and brown. Why did he become a dorm assistant? Well, Uncle Scott answers, “My student experience was good, so I wanted to come back and serve the school and give the students the same joy I had.” A dorm assistant may seem like a fun and quaint job on the outside. However, there’s more to it than meets the eye. There are both challenging and merry days. Here is what an average day in the life of a dorm assistant looks like: As the sun rises, Uncle Scott wakes up and, for precisely five minutes, reads the news to brush the morning feels away. He then gets out of bed and eats his breakfast which usually consists of yogurt, toast, and cereal. After eating, he washes himself up and leaves by 6.55 am to get to the dorms by 7 am. If there’s breakfast to cook, like french toast or cut fruit, he’ll prep...

By Paul Pham                                                    “If you throw it to me, I’ll go chase it down,” Mr. Neeley told Lauren Worten (11). The lead held by the opposing ultimate frisbee team still lay at two touchdowns away and was closing fast. Ultimate Frisbee plays in a manner reminiscent of rugby and handball. Players throw the frisbee to teammates, with the player holding the frisbee unable to take steps with their feet until passing it to another teammate. The objective is to throw the frisbee to a teammate standing in the designated scoring area. Unfortunately, their game of ultimate frisbee ended two touchdowns later with the opposing team winning 7-4 on the Thursday afternoon of January 20th due the defensive effort...

By Cecelia Sheng Traditionally, Chinese New Year is a time for reunions. This year, unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic prevented many families from reuniting with their loved ones back home. Yet kindness turned the unique circumstance into a blessing: neighbors became closer as they celebrated the New Year together. The CNY Eve is a concoction of joy: fireworks sprinkled tiny explosions full of colors against the backdrop of a stary night sky, illuminating people’s faces with beautiful patterns. Children run around screaming, laughing, with Ang Pao’s in one hand and special snacks prepared for the occasion in the other. Adults chatting with each other, exchanging their best wishes and hopes for the coming year. “Smile at everyone you see, everyone is a family. On this Chinese New Day, we wish you Gong Xi Gong Xi,” Elizabeth Yi (2), with the many Ang Pao collected earlier, caroled and frolicked with her friends, obviously pleased with the special opportunity when she got to share...

  By Juyoung Kim   "Juyoung! No! You cannot play indoor soccer!" Hannah Pickett (12) yelled at me to stop me from playing indoor soccer in the gym with our dorm siblings one Sunday night. So did Haylee Douglas (11) and Haeon Park (12). Why did they try to stop me? Because I have a slipped disc. Diagnosed with a slipped disc at the age of 19 was tragic — there is so much more adventure in life I want to explore.    Back pains are probably the most irritating pain someone could ever experience. Not only is it painful, but it makes you feel very helpless. I've had back pains ever since a fall during a dance performance back in middle school, but it wasn't until my senior year that my disc finally slipped out. During a dance practice for the dorm Christmas dance, I twisted my body weirdly, causing my disc to slip out. It felt uncomfortable, but I thought it was just regular back pain and thought it would go away after a few days. The pain wasn't getting any be...