Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Jay Lohman With the end of the 2022/2023 school year en route, students feel there is much to celebrate. However, there is a growing worry about the state of Friday night open campus and their effect on Dalat culture. Although the covid 19 pandemic is long gone, it still has had lasting effects on the Dalat community. Most notably, Friday night open campuses, which are no longer every Friday night, have been restricted to 8:30 pm, and barely any students attend them.  David Kilgo from the senior class says: "Think about it, we are the last remaining class that remembers what a true Friday night experience is. I mean, it is kind of sad to think that we are the last students of the Friday night generation." Previously, Friday nights were the highlight of the week for students of all ages, and having the campus open for students, cultivated an environment of bonding between Dalat attendees not only in their own grade but with students of different classes and even DLRC studen...

By Lei Tee As the year starts to draw to a close, the fruits of every student’s labor start to appear in various forms, whether that be exams, concerts, plays, and finally- exhibitions. Starting on May 15 to May 26th, the high school art exhibit will showcase the student’s work, from the foundation art class to the AP classes. Unlike a band or choir concert, the art exhibit lingers around longer, the pieces slowly being mounted and revealed until the big announcement on the 18th. Every year, Mrs. Nichols -the head of the high school art department- organizes the event, which consists of hundreds of pieces. Here are just a few of her thoughts on the event: Q: What’s it like to plan and organize the entire high school art exhibit?  Mrs. Nichols: “It is a combination of different departments working together, teamwork is key. I can't do it by myself.” Q: What are you most excited about this year for the fine arts festival? Mrs. Nichols: “The caricatures.” This year, there is a commoti...

By Evan Kuan From May 1st to 12th, the school bustled with a different type of energy. The library tables were filled with study groups and after school the nearby cafes would be filled. With AP exams around the corner, it was officially crunch time. The vigorous exams consolidated a course’s entire year into one test. The pressure was immense and a skittish air could be observed all throughout the school.  For many seniors, these would be the last exams they would take in their high school career; they found it important to end their primary education well.  When interviewing Soo Wei Goh (12) and how he felt about finals studying he stated, “I felt stress because my school gave me a conditional offer. This means that my acceptance depends on scores of AP results; a lot of pressure and a lot at stake.” This is a scenario that many UK senior applicants have experienced as they are given conditional offers to the schools they wish to attend. Soo Wei then stated that he “felt mor...

By Joshua Emmanuel The Primary Arts Carnival (PAC) was hosted at Dalat on the 13th of May and was organized by Ms. Joyce Goh. The theme for this event was “We are One” and was upheld through the songs that were sung in the mass chorals and displayed through the enthusiastic participation of all the schools.  There were 5 schools that participated in the event, Dalat, POWIIS, Uplands, Tenby, and SCIPS.  The event began with a drum circle of all 165 students playing a drum or a percussion instrument. The name of the piece was “Do you like to play the drums?” and it was directed by guest conductor John Hagedorn, a certified drum facilitator.  Mr. Craig Roylance, who ran sound for the event, had a decibel meter app on his phone showing that the sound levels inside Harbor Hall; the sound level had increased to 115dB during the drum circle. After the drum circle, there was a mass choral in which all the schools participated and sang "Sisi Nimoja" written by Jacob Narverud. This...

By Keiryn Sandahl On Friday, May 5th, and Saturday, May 6th, the cast and crew of A Midsummer Night’s Dream gathered in their places for the culmination of a semester’s community and preparation, performed in its original English, though cut and adapted to a more suitable length for a student production. As our director, Ms. Geiman, told us afterwards, on those days we “joined a four-hundred year old tradition”.  Like any Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has several interconnected plots: a maiden called Hermia elopes with her true love, Lysander, of whom her father doesn’t approve, while her friend Helena pursues a man who also wants Hermia. Meanwhile, in the woods, Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, have an argument, so the king curses the queen to fall in love with a donkey-headed man, part of a group of craftsmen rehearsing a play to perform at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Athens. However complicated that sounds, it gave over twenty actors op...

By David Kilgo Long at last, here we are at the end. It only felt like yesterday that the seniors in the Class of 2023 went on Senior Sneak, After Sneak Dinner, CB, and various other events that marked our senior class experience. Because this is the last full month of our high school careers, this time also reflects on all the experiences and relationships built during this school year.  The funny thing about senior year is how it feels so slow yet so fast. It only feels like we began our eighteen-hour journey to Telunas Resorts in Indonesia yesterday. For many, senioritis marks their senior year like an indelible stain. The slow, dragging days seem to go by in a blur, characterized by a lack of motivation and a yearning for the end of the school year to finally come. But when that last day of high school does come, it comes out of nowhere. It sneaks up on seniors even though they anticipated it this whole time.  The emotions felt on that last day can vary from person to pers...

By Luis Vieira The Juniors enter the harbor hall for the After-JSB Dinner and have their creation turned into a chaotic mess. Tables turned upside down, seniors on all fours to be used as chairs, and a table surrounded by Milo cows. It was surely a sight for sore eyes. A Wonky mess. For the After-JSB Dinner, the seniors have a few hours to use the juniors’ theme's and play to create a parody of their event. The theme this year was Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, where then the seniors turned it into Willy Wonky. Being a Wonky adaptation to the well-known Wonka Factory, the seniors messed around with the table arrangements and the decorations. The plays were mostly improvised, with some accidents that were lucky to be funny and add to the experience. The fast schedule changes added to the sense of chaos, and the seniors had to adapt as fast and well as possible. We also had an honorable tribute from Tae Woo Song (12) back to Daniel Lim (11) in the form of an epic rap covered by...

By Moriah Winsor Entering into the extremely unfamiliar walls of Harbor Hall late Friday evening, seniors and sophomores were shocked by the overwhelming decor imitating Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. All four painted panels (beautifully done by some unknown juniors) really transformed the entire harbor hall. “It was truly like being submerged into Willy Wonka’s factory,” said Moriah Winsor (12).  The green-haired Oompa Loompas made seniors of all ages question the true whereabouts of the banquet, making some believe they were truly teleported into a world of fantastic chocolate and sweets. The Oompa Loompas impacted everyone in ways the juniors may not have expected. Whether or not this was due to the strong pigmentation of their bright green hair, or Cullno’s intense dance sequence in a song towards the end, their antics were one of the highlights of the evening.  Though the appetizers were somewhat disappointing for the gluten-free students of the high school body, the fa...

By Ben Yeoh Last Friday, the class of 2024 put together a memorable JSB that temporarily pulled our attention from the stresses of finals and AP exams: a trip to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.  Before the event, we did not know what to expect as the initial theme was Cars, though most people figured out it must have been a pseudo theme. Upon arrival, a large crowd of parents, teachers, and students gathered around the harbor hall stairs taking photos of each other in their nice, formal outfits.  As we entered the hall, the bright purple decorations and greetings from our very own Oompa Loompas made it evident that the theme was in fact, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The event started off with several scenes to introduce the play before dinner, which was great; as Darryl Dwumfour (12) said, “The food was amazing, way better than what we had last year in our JSB.” Throughout the night, most of the time was spent presenting an exceptionally entertaining play and taking cou...