The "Sneakiest" Sneak of All

By Alyssa Kwok

Wet from the rain but dry from the comfort of somewhere familiar. Cold from the wind but warm from the friendships and friends. Loud from the screams and laughs but pleasing to the heart from all the joy. Scary to begin but thrilling to try something new. Those are the contrasts I would use to describe the Class of 2024’s Senior Sneak.

At first, it felt strange: skipping school for a week even though it was not a family holiday or a sickness keeping you from school, going somewhere that took almost 15 hours by bus with not your family but over 60 students, and having that surreal feeling of finally being on Sneak. I couldn't believe I was actually going on Sneak when I was packing the night before and preparing myself to get ready to go to Thailand. It only hit when I was on the island of Koh Lanta, and even then, it felt like it was just my imagination.

Since I lived in Thailand for almost ten years (and still returning to visit), I did not expect anything to change much. It would be like when I traveled to Phuket with my parents for mission trips, but boy, was I wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I felt at home while driving through Thailand's quiet, muddy streets, admiring the beautiful beaches and even the cold, rainy monsoon season, but added with 60+ loud kids and six sponsors, the outcome came out a little different.

I was surrounded by my friends, and with no parents to control what we bought, we pretty much bought enough drinks and extra food for the resort to live without tourists for an entire month or more. We were living the life of kings and queens: jumping into the pool whenever we wanted, our fantastic team of ExCom members planning fun and entertaining activities, an exciting time at the service project of helping kids or the animal shelter, and even a thrilling snorkeling trip (which I had never done before), which included an exhilarating boat ride that made us get more drenched than the monsoon itself.

Everything was peachy, filled with so much fun and games that we did not know where the time went, and soon, it was time to head back to Malaysia and school… ugh. As I sit here and write this, I miss the rain on my face, the water surrounding me as I swim, and even the delicious Thai food we were given to eat.  Arielle Mclver said, "I miss the endless opportunities that we had to bond as a class." 

Although Thailand seems so far away, and Sneak is over, I will forever remember how much fun I had with my friends, our creatively humourous talent show with different nationalities competing against each other, and the laughter and complaints of the cold, stormy rain. I could not have asked for a better Sneak, even though almost everyone in Dalat knew where we were going….