Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Annabelle Fan   The shuffle of footsteps and the opening of lockers echoed through the hallways. The chatter of students complaining about how it was too early for them, how their summers went, and how long they hadn’t seen someone. The melody of students re-entering a familiar site rose to a crescendo as more cars rolled through the Dalat front gates on August 7, 2024.  For seniors, the first day of school brings mixed feelings, from the excitement of beginning a new year to the bittersweet feeling of entering their last year of high school.  “I dreaded coming back to school because it meant I had to actually leave my house. The only thing keeping me going is knowing that I get to come back home as soon as the clock strikes at 3.10,” said Liv Gohan (12) - a reluctant returning student.   As years pass, “first days” may no longer hold a special place for some students. However, current senior Sandy Choi (12) said, “Coming in as a senior, it felt surreal to...

By Jadyn Bui At some point, every media literacy class does a Nokia Phone Project, where everyone in the class goes without a smartphone for two weeks. This semester’s F block class started with a bang, deciding to start the project the very Monday after the beginning of school. We exchanged our smartphones for a Nokia 105, a “dumb phone” which could send messages and calls but could not access the Internet. We honestly kind of wanted to get it over with. Our world has so much media and technology, but we often don’t realize its effects. The goal of Media Literacy is to make students aware of these effects, and the phone project was an important part of this goal. So, on Monday August 12, we filed into the media literacy classroom carrying our smartphones. After transferring the SIM cards to our Nokias, we handed them in to Mr. Chin. “Remember, this is on the honor system,” he reminded. “You could have an extra smartphone at home, and I would never know. But you only get as much out of...

By Timothy Hollon Nervous stretching circles spread throughout campus, eager 8th graders laced their cleats in anticipation, experienced veterans and optimistic newcomers alike focused their mental and physical energy, focused on one thing, and one thing only: tryout week. Last week, the tryouts for the girls and boys’ varsity and junior varsity teams were held over two to three-day periods at Steinkamp court and the Upper Field. Masses of high school and middle school students congregated with the hope and excitement of representing our school in athletics.  The honor of representing Dalat at the Varsity and Junior Varsity levels is immense, and many of the boys and girls trying out worked hard with the memories of all the great Dalat athletes that came before them.  As Peter Hsu (12) put it, “Representing Dalat through volleyball is a privilege that embodies dedication and excellence.” However, the tryouts weren’t all sunshine and rainbows for everyone trying out. At the end...

By Finley White Late June. That’s when I saw the summer homework for AP Computer Science Principles and immediately knew I wasn’t going to survive that class. I had already talked to a few people about how disappointed I was to not be able to take Leadership Development because I felt like I needed another AP, but I realized looking at that assignment that I needed to change classes. I filled out the LD form in the KL airport, sent in my schedule change request in ORD Airport in Chicago, and had Leadership Development in my schedule by the first day of school back in Penang.   Excitingly, there is an LD retreat that happens only three days after school starts. We went to paintball, ate dinner, had a bonfire, stayed overnight at a retreat center, and had good discussions, but the best thing for me was the worship.   An important part of our stay was the two sessions we had with Pastor Grom, who taught us a lot about being spiritual leaders at our school and in general...