Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Iyan Sandahl “It begins at Baker Street,” said Aydan Wong (playing Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle) for the last time. Though ending drama was an emotional experience, we were all proud to be there. Anyone who knows me knows that I have an assortment of wildly different friends. But there is one thing that most of us have in common, and it is one of the main reasons why my weird and wonderful friend group exists: Dalat Drama. Although, it is hard to quantify whom I am referring to when I say “my friend group,” because to some extent, all of drama is my friend group.  Most of us who have joined Dalat drama at some point in our high school careers have been instantly hooked. We’ve been through a lot together: auditions, hilarious first day script read-throughs, not-so-hilarious runs of scenes we’ve heard only a few hundred times, intense memorization, last-minute line check panic, celebratory drama dinners, relaxing afternoons of workday flat painting, ticket sales shifts, long-haul late ...

By Sarah Loh “Three pats,” said Nadia Book (11). She held a little crochet turtle in front of each cast member as they walked through the band room backstage. Patting the turtle before every drama production for good luck became a tradition. Whispers quiet down as we hear someone say, “It’s 7 pm!” The first show was starting. Since there were three different plays, the cast of the third one, which began after intermission, waited anxiously in the band room while the others performed. Three hours before opening night, the cast and crew ran around, either quickly eating their meals to change into their costumes or grabbing more paint to finish the set. Everything was quite chaotic, to say the least. “The most chaotic part was when we had to prepare things at the last minute and try to find something that was lost,” said Kirti Ramasamy (9), one of the crew members.  Makeup Club contributed to the production, too. “Our makeup crew for the drama production was so big, which made it a lo...

By Eric Shyu People were walking left and right, pacing back and forth, moving from the band room to the stage. It's definitely not the usual Saturday for most people, but this is how the drama team works. Props are in place, walls have been painted, costumes are on, and all actors have their makeup done, with one person remaining.  As Lindsay Goh (10) was doing my makeup, she jokingly said the words, “ Ang bao , very ong,” meaning “Red packet, very lucky” in Hokkien. I needed to blow my nose. I stood up laughing and reached for a napkin with the list of the actors' names crossed out because their makeup was done. I reached for the tissue, and then - drip.  Lindsay froze, not knowing what to do. “Oh stars-” I said anxiously as I grabbed the nearest tissue as fast as I could to cover my nose and clean up as much as possible. The corner of the paper was stained red from blood.  After a few seconds, I calmed down, and now I had a bloody tissue in my nose, waiting for the blo...

By Abraham Latham Coming off a win against Teleperformance on Wednesday two weeks ago, the Varsity Boys' basketball team knew they had much to work on before the Panther Invitational the coming weekend. The team only had two practices together before their first game, and although they played well, there was still a lot of chemistry and plays to learn in preparation for the upcoming tournament. The Friday following the game into the next week, the boys were hard at work almost every day practicing defensive drills, learning new inbounding plays and presses, and improving overall fitness. One drill they practiced was called “Forty Seconds of Chaos.” Two players stand under the rim and fight for the rebound against each other for forty seconds, and the player who wins the most rebounds escapes the punishment of burpees. This drill and many others helped the team get ready for their last game against Universiti Sains Malaysia before departing to ISKL. You could see improvement in the ...

By Gabriella Uzzle Did you know that Dalat students have the option to take one less class their senior year in favor of an internship during school hours?  “Hey what class do you have next?” “Oh, my internship.” “Your what?” This was a conversation I had over and over again with multiple friends and classmates right before G block for the first few weeks of school. Not many people know about the Internship program for seniors where a student works one-on-one with a specific member of staff to work on a specified area that interests them. It just takes one block out of the student and staff member's day, but it is an amazing opportunity for students to have more hands-on experience with tasks more akin to a job better preparing them for the future.  One Seniors with Internships this year include Michael Silverstein (12), the current Tech intern, who said, “I like my internship because it teaches me how to apply my computer knowledge in a professional work environment. I would ...

By Ian Dobson It was 6:50 on Friday, November 15, 2024, and I was sitting in the bleachers watching the boys varsity basketball team warm up to play against USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia). The stands were full of students from all divisions cheering them on. Based on the warm-ups, both teams seemed like they would perform well.  The game started, and Dalat started off strong with Abraham Latham (12) making the first shot of the game, a layup. Every time someone would score, all the people in the stands would shout and clap. Throughout the game, Dalat was always ahead, but a few times, it did get close. The main thing that USM was doing well was their passing. They seemed to have good game sense, and they knew when to make the right passes. Dalat didn’t let that stop them from winning, though. Dalat played really well and won the game with a score of 57:74.  At the end of the game, they came over and bowed and said thank you to the people in the stands. They beat USM even thou...

By Aiden Jeong After the low of PSAT and the high of the long weekend, we will see how the students of Dalat are currently faring. This past week, Dalat students hosted the annual PSAT, an event that marks both stress and excitement on campus. The challenging exam, known for its lengthy reading passages, tricky math questions, and tight time constraints, left many students feeling mentally drained. For some, the PSAT proved to be a significant mental hurdle. Many students felt the familiar stress of standardized testing—balancing the need to think critically with the pressure of limited time. However, others found a silver lining amidst the test’s pressures. Sophomore Andrew Mattson, in particular, appreciated a unique perk of the PSAT day: “I enjoyed having the PSAT because I got to go to lunch early.” For students like Andrew, this simple, lighthearted outlook provided a reminder to find small positives, even on a challenging day.  The relief from the PSAT ending no doubt helps m...

By Stephen Branum On November 1 and 2, something amazing happened. With prayer for months beforehand and many hands at hard work, the event was finally starting to take shape. The details were flowing in, people were volunteering, and God was at work. I was personally getting myself ready to worship for God’s glory and really focusing on thanking God for the opportunity He had given me to lead worship.  How to Life (HTL) was an event put on by Gen Z, for Gen Z to hear about the Gospel and experience Christ. It was from 7-9 in the evening at PIC or Penang International Church. There was a time of worship, testimonies, a question panel, a gospel presentation, and a reflection time. One of the main prayer points we repeated was the ability to plant seeds and to be servants for God’s will in this event. This led us to really try to emphasize a reflection time as we set up a prayer corner and a question corner and just made ourselves available however that looked.  With many leader...

By Anna-Lynn Tamminga ‘’EVERYONE QUIET’,’ Anya Shanmugabalan (12) was screaming at the top of her lungs while it started to rain harder and harder. About 20 middle schoolers finally quieted down and Anya was able to explain what the plan was. At that moment, I realized that Freaky Friday, especially for the leaders, was not for the weak.  24 September 2024: “Hey class of 2025, I have come to announce a class meeting this Thursday during X-block. We will be talking about “Freaky Friday” where, as a grade, we unify ourselves and interact with the middle school. We will give them a chance to get to know more about us via games and more!” stated Sidharta Selvaraja (12) in a Teams message. I signed up thinking that it was going to be a chill and easy afternoon. During the next few weeks, we had a couple of meetings about what the groups were going to look like, and I found myself in the group of activities. On the day of Freaky Friday, we had already spent more than 30 minutes setting u...

By Sophia Tan It’s a bright, sunny morning at Dalat International School, just like any other. Except something is different. A group of new faces stand in anticipation near the brown tables at the front office, faces that belong to none other than Dalat’s special guests from Indonesia: the Rumah Boas Team and youth. From first meeting and interacting during English outreach programs initiated by the Student IMPACT Club to meeting them in person earlier this year in March to now coming to Dalat, Rumah Boas’ and Dalat’s relationship has significantly developed, and exciting events were in store.  As soon as school started, the youth followed a group of students to begin shadowing to see what student life at Dalat is like. From Choir class to an array of English classes, Boas got a sneak peek at what Dalat students lived out every day. After a long day of shadowing classes, the students and Boas needed a brain break. What better way to do so than a classic game of Captain Chicken? Th...

By Jason Choi The past week at Dalat has felt like a mini fall break, packed with days off and a mix of festivities that have kept students on their toes. From the excitement of Diwali celebrations and Halloween costumes to the annual PTO Family Fun Day and the looming November 1st college application deadline, it’s been a week to remember. The long weekend started with the family fun day event held by the PTO on Wednesday. It took place on the outdoor basketball court from 4 to 6 p.m., with carnival games catered to students from P3-6 to grade 12. Students could win prizes in exchange for the points collected by winning the carnival games. When asked about Family Fun Day, Jin Sarang (11) said, “Through Family Fun Day, I felt that many children got closer as they were playing games and earning tokens together. Also, the Dalat parents got closer as they were preparing the fun day.” The long weekend, with Thursday and Friday off, was a chance for students to celebrate Diwali, the festiva...

By JaeYoun Kim “Time, because it is so fleeting, time, because it is beyond recall, is the most precious of human goods and to squander it is is the most delicate form of dissipation in which man can indulge,” said W. Somerset Maugham, contrasting the long weekend which gave us time to catch up and reflect. October 28th marked the first tryouts for our school’s varsity basketball team. Many were worried they would not make the team. Everyone’s effort was evident, and guessing who would return the next day was a daunting task. On October 29th, the final tryouts arrived, and some fates seemed set in stone. The end came, and 12 were chosen, even those who felt secure found themselves unsure. The long break offered time to recover from setbacks, whether being cut from varsity or facing unfinished work. The break felt like a pause in time, yet it was also more time to catch up on work. November 1st was the second practice for the team, pushing players to exhaustion. November 2nd was a frien...

By Ting Yi Huang “What do you think of the future of Dalat’s 2024 varsity basketball team, and how do you think this team will perform in ACSC?” Sean Lee (12) is asked as the first few weeks of basketball season have just started. Coming off of an amazing season of volleyball with Dalat’s first-ever gold in ACSC, Sean Lee played in 30 games of volleyball, 23 won and 7 lost.  “I think it’s pretty decent. Even though there were some unexpected players, I think we have a pretty good team this year. And looking based off the teams last year, I think we are one of the top contenders for 1st place in ACSC.”  Is this an accurate assumption, or is Sean in over his head due to the great win of Dalat’s varsity volleyball? With other players in the basketball team coming hot from the volleyball and their championship, such as Jaeyoun Kim (12), this team is pumped to win yet another gold for Dalat, in basketball. As the basketball team secured 3rd place last season, there are promising re...

By Darnell Dwumfour November 2nd is a special day for some people and a regular day for most. It was a rather eventful, tragic day that resulted in confusion, excitement, and memories. For me, It was an extraordinary day. It was Jason Choi's (12) birthday!  Romeo Kontsas (12) and I sped off to the mall at approximately 5 pm. We urgently searched for a birthday present for Choi. Choi informed us that he wanted a cologne worth 1000 rm. I obviously told him that he was crazy and there was no way we would buy that for him. He then went on to tell us that he wanted Crocs. And he strictly said he wanted either the ugliest Crocs we could find or the prettiest Crocs we could find. So obviously, we went with the Ugliest Crocs we could find.  Kontsas and I then sped off to Choi's (12) birthday dinner as we were late buying Jason a gift. We arrived at Sae ma eul (a Korean BBQ restaurant). Of course, Choi was full of excitement to see what we got for him. He then opened the gift bag to se...

By Anna Kilgo During this past week's SEW, elementary students got a chance to dive into a few of God’s numerous names while enjoying the presence of some unfamiliar faces- including puppets with big personalities.  From October 23rd to the 25th, students from Preschool through high school participated in SEW, or Spiritual Emphasis Week. During this Wednesday-to-Friday occasion, a group of speakers was invited to travel from Texas, USA, to our school here in Penang, Malaysia, to speak to each school division. With this SEW’s theme being “God Is,” each guest spokesperson shared a variety of stories—some from the Bible and others from their personal lives and families back home. Each gave messages aligning with the attributes of God and guiding students through what the Bible says, providing passages from scripture.  Between the worship, activities, and messages all the students would participate in during the day and the optional night services, many enjoyed the fun and intenti...

 By Onyou Kim The week began with the hustle and bustle of students tittering and chattering about the upcoming Spiritual Emphasis Week. They had just finished fall break with an extra Monday off, and many were excited about the ‘work-free’ days ahead of them. The first day of SEW for high school began with the worship team leading the audience to a series of worship songs. With shiny eyes expecting eagerly, the students were introduced to the theme, ‘God Is,’ and their speaker, Tysha Solomon, who explained one of the many names of God: Yahweh. She preached through the story of Moses, who encountered God through a burning bush, and evoked intense emotions among the students with her statement, “Every name has a meaning.” With her enthusiastic and powerful words, students started SEW off strong with joy and excitement.   Seojeong Park (11) conveys, “I felt really connected to God during SEW, and I believe that these sessions are a good way to experience the presence of God...

By Kyra Brewster SEW, or Spiritual Emphasis Week comes once a year and is a time of worship, messages, and prayer. The theme for this year’s services was “God is,” which refers to the many names of God, and the idea that God was before anything. The first two days included a service for ES, MS, and HS in the morning as well as a combined service at night. The last day also had a morning service, but the night service was student-led, and many seniors shared their testimonies. Almost 300 people attended every night service ranging from Elementary to parents.  With so many people crowded in the Harbor Hall on the last night, many nerves ran through the seniors who were prepared to share. They had all put tons of thought and time into their stories to make them meaningful, impactful, and relatable while highlighting how God has moved through their life. Andy Tan was the first to go and as he started talking, immediately captured the crowd’s attention with his serious and, in some plac...

By Esther Jung Lead: The burning question of who God truly is was this year's theme of Spiritual Emphasis Week, where speakers from Texas came to teach the word of God, impacting student’s lives. As I opened my eyes, I saw the beautiful image of the Harbor Hall room filled with people ranging from 3-year-old kids to grandparents, praising the Lord with all their hearts.     This is what Spiritual Emphasis Week, or SEW, strives to achieve each year. Dalat sets aside three days dedicated to encouraging students and adults to grow spiritually and learn about the word of God. Each year, Pastor Bob and the Leadership Development team work hard to make SEW a memorable event by picking a theme and inviting speakers from different parts of the world to share during Chapel and evening services.   This year, from October 23rd to 25th, a team from Frisco, Texas, came all the way down to Penang, Malaysia, to talk about this year’s theme, “God is.” We learned about the different names of G...

By Hyorim Ahn On the first day of the Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW), the worship team made a mistake on starting on the song “Another in the Fire,” where everyone stumbled and stared at each other for a moment. I was stressed out, feeling trapped and squished inside a box, but bless the Lord! He gently guided me and the worship team to get backtrack to the original tempo to the song.  For me, one of the greatest fears for leading worship was myself messing up and leading people off-track from glorifying God. However, I often struggled with staying focused and solely singing for God, which made me panic and make mistakes frequently.  Thankfully, the mistakes I made so far had not been very obvious, until the second day for SEW came. In the morning for MS Chapel, God helped me to hold on to Him and praise Him with joy. Nevertheless, during the HS chapel, without the time to rehearsal, my anxiety made me forget to pray to God and to make my heart fully dwelling on Him, and it hap...

By Emma Emis Big, bold letters sprawled out on the backdrop of the of the stage, surrounded by bright lights in every corner: “YHWH.”  Spiritual Emphasis Week is a week that Dalat encourages students, parents, friends, and faculty to dive deeper into their relationship with God. This week is beloved by all who attend, as it is a fun way to worship and get to know God more. The Leadership Development class worked enthusiastically to plan, organize, and pray for SEW months in advance. We worked diligently to synthesize all of our ideas into one single theme to encapsulate who God is. Then we found it.   This profound statement “ God Is.” was unanimously voted upon in our class after being suggested. We all came to the realization that God didn’t need to be defined by simply anything. He just is. And if he is, then nothing else matters. We hatched a plan- purposefully defining a few specific names of God for each chapel, in order to understand his character. We would put the...

By Gerald Yang Varsity Boys Volleyball have secured gold. On the evening of October 19th, the volleyball boys made history winning gold in ACSC Volleyball.  “Shave that beard! Shave that beard! Shave that beard!” the voices echoed around the gym as Coach Riffey was picked up by the volleyball team. The boys’ hard work, dedication, and effort all lead to this moment in ACSC. Some might’ve thought getting gold would be an out of reach dream and others would not settle for anything less than a gold. It was the last game of the day. The championship game. Dalat faced the ACSC defending champions, Faith Academy, who had knocked the Dalat Eagles out of the ACSC championship game last year. Many of the members were afraid of history repeating itself, but this year was different. The Dalat Eagles had cruised through the elimination round undefeated, placing them into the finals against a vengeful Faith team.  Tensions were high as the Faith Vanguards started strong and questionable ca...

By Andy Tan The week of the Varsity Volleyball ACSC for both the boys and girls was a riveting and thrilling experience for those involved, and even for those supporting from afar. Six days of fun, fight, and forging of new memories for many of our beloved DALAT community. The Girls Volleyball team went off to represent us in Korea, at Yongsan International School of Seoul (YISS), where they faced a steep and tough competition against the other schools there. The teams they faced were Faith Academy, Grace International School, ICS Bangkok, ICS Hong Kong, Morrison Academy, SPH, and the host school YISS. As all ACSC tournaments are, it was a tough battle against strong teams that challenged each other and pushed everyone to try their hardest and play their best. In the end, our Girls Varsity Volleyball team managed to place fifth, through adversity and struggle they stayed in the fight and finished their week making sure they left it all on the court.  Throughout these tough games, t...

By Shasha Menon The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team fought determinedly in their recent match against ICS Hong Kong during the ACSC Volleyball Tournament, the biggest tournament of the season. Despite their best efforts, they fell short in a 2-0 loss. The Asia Christian Schools Conference (ACSC) Volleyball Tournament, held from October 16–19 in Seoul, Korea, brought together 8 teams from 8 different international Christian schools across Asia, all fighting for first place. On the fourth day of the tournament, the Dalat girls’ varsity team faced off against ICS Hong Kong in a crucial match that would determine the fourth and fifth places. The game started off with both teams fighting eagerly, both trying to take the first win. Though our team lost the first set 25-22, giving them hope that the next game could be theirs. Despite the close scores, our players struggled to maintain the same momentum as the thought of losing weighed on their minds. ICS Hong Kong had adjusted their strategy, ...

By Romeo Kontsas Darnell Dwumfour (12) and I were the last ones left from the team that won ACSC in 2022, so we felt immense pressure to bring home a third successive medal. This year, we had a young team, so as captains, Darnell and I had to prepare them for the immense competition that was upcoming. ACSC soccer was hosted by Morrison Academy, which meant that we got to travel to Taichung, Taiwan. As we started our travel, the team was full of excitement and nervousness.  Our first game was against Grace, and the team's nervousness showed. We came out with no intensity, and Grace capitalized on that. We lost the game 4-1, and we knew that something needed to change. Thankfully, our opportunity for improvement was later that same day. We were playing the hosts, Morrison. We knew that if we wanted to place first or second in our group, the next two games were a must-win, so the pressure was on. In our pre-game huddle, I motivated the team and demanded that we come out with intensity...