Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Gabe Roylance 2024 is close to ending, and so is the first semester of the seniors’ final year. Many conflicting feelings and emotions roam the campus - the end of the first semester and the end of some classes that seniors will never again participate in. With finals in a matter of days, CB upcoming, and Thanksgiving having just happened, the amount of different emotions in the air is great.  With the end of the year and the semester at hand, everyone is rushing to get their assignments in, their CB outfits ready, and study for their soon-upcoming finals. For seniors, too, there is an air of finality, the culmination of the past three years of high school and the years of school even before that.  One student, Yong Xi Tan (12), says, “I feel like everything is crammed right now, especially since I made a mistake a few weeks ago with my homework management. As finals approach I do really sense that pressure that I've felt for the past three years. Thankfully, there's not a ...

By: Michael Fearday The Dalat choir class had their concert on December 5th, 2024. It was a great night filled with the Christmas spirit. The choir team did a great job spreading joy and lightheartedness throughout the night.  The Dalat Choir Concert is a must see every year and they don’t disappoint. This year was really cool as lots of seniors are in choir and using their voices to life up the spirit of Christmas. When I asked Kyra Brewster (12) what her favorite part of this semester has been, she answered, “Getting to know the underclassmen and the progress everyone has made as a group.” They have definitely progressed through the year and have grown closer as a class.  During the night, they sang a lot of Christmas carols and were getting everyone in a Christmas mood. I felt the whole room’s mood change as soon as they started singing their first song. The tech team also did a great job making everything come together and sound perfect. The choir team worked months and mo...

By Michaela Parsley Non-Americans at Dalat were asked their thoughts on the Thanksgiving holiday. Their perspective revealed the beauty of Thanksgiving is the gratitude we have for the gifts of abundance and joy we have in our lives.  We all know Americans love Thanksgiving, but what about everyone else? It is rather easy to guess the meaning behind Thanksgiving. It’s right there in the name, after all. Yet, it’s so easy it is to get caught up in the traditions of the holiday that we forget the heart of it all. Sometimes, the best way to regain perspective is to remove yourself from the center and seek out a distanced point of view.  Dalat has students from all over the world, so what do all the non-American students take from Turkey Day? On one hand, Thanksgiving gives the community an extra day of the weekend. That’s always a welcome gift!  Sophia Teoh, a twelfth-grade student from Malaysia, said, “Personally, even though [I‘m not] American, I still found Thanksgiving b...

By Kiera Nichols After a long three-day weekend, the mood on campus was filled with mixed emotions, mostly bad ones as students returned back to their daily routines. The extended break had offered a variety of experiences for everyone, and it was clear that nobody spent the weekends the same. Whether it was time spent productively, socially, or simply having leisure time, the weekend left lasting impressions. For some, like Zoe Yeoh, a senior, the weekend was all about preparing for the upcoming SAT. “I spent the break studying for the SAT and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. Her dedication exemplified the determination of students ready to tackle one of the biggest academic challenges of the year. Others used the time to fully enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. Emma Emis (12) reflected on her weekend, saying, “I took Thursday off because Dalat didn’t give me the opportunity to spend time with my family. I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday cooking with my...

By Zoe Yeoh Most people spent Thanksgiving break catching up on unfinished work, sleeping in, or spending quality time with family. On the other hand, some of us decided to spend the weekend in Malaysia’s biggest city, Kuala Lumpur.  “Woi, wasn’t it you guys who said be here by 5:45?” Caitlyn Chan (12) asked, raising an eyebrow at the group. The day had started painfully early. We had all awoken around 4 a.m. to catch the 6:30 a.m. train to KL. While Caitlyn, Vennie Wong (12), and Ellie Park (12) arrived at the station on time, Annabelle Fan (12), Liv Gohan (12), and I showed up fashionably late at 6:15 a.m. There was a little delay because Annabelle had spent 15 minutes searching for her non-existent makeup bag, which she had supposedly left in school.  Thankfully, everyone made it safely onto the train. The next four hours were spent sleeping, eating, talking, and of course, playing Brawl Stars.  “I learned that you can never sleep in peace around friends; you will be t...

By Yuan Tee  With the annual Thanksgiving dinner just around the corner, the Ziemer Dorm kitchen was brimming with activity.  Caleb Evans (11) held open a massive zip-lock bag containing a beast of a turkey, as Olive Berends (10) carefully poured in the seasoned brine over the large bird. Tee Yu (12) sat at the table before two ginormous silver bowls of hard-boiled eggs, diligently peeling away in preparation for the signature appetizer of devilled eggs. Meanwhile, the smell of baking pumpkin pie filled the atmosphere with a tantalizing aroma.   Every thanksgiving, Ziemer Dorm holds a magnificent feast to celebrate the occasion. As 5:30 PM rolled around, hungry people flocked around a high wooden table that proudly carried the enticing appetizers: a beautiful smoked salmon cheese ball, a tray of devilled eggs, and a glass dish of chewy caramels - a promising start to the long-awaited dinner.   The kitchen counter was loaded with all the classics: sweet potato cassero...