Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Among the loud noises of unfounded accusations, panicked defences, and the calm arguments of evil masterminds, the sound of the timer ending was heard by all. The time had come to vote who among them was the werewolf. Discussion where shushed, fingers were pointed, and cards were flipped over to reveal an outcome that none had anticipated.  It was Friday, the 21st of August, and the designated hour had at last arrived. It was time for the first Game Night of the year. The fists to arrive at the designated location were Ms. Carin Loraine, the incredible staff sponsor and unofficial queen of Game Night, and Gabe Roylance, the veteran Game Knight and the undefeated champion. Over the course of an hour the remaining Knight would arrive. There was Nick the Grand, Giovanni the Joyful, Nathan the Stedfast, Karyme the Quiet, and myself, David the Eager.  As the other members of the Order gathered, discussions on what game should be played ensued. One of the Game Knights had brought hi...

If you have a school full of growing children, why not fill it with growing plants? Many Dalat teachers and staff have found value in bringing vegetation into their classrooms. “They make the classroom more welcoming,” noted middle school language arts teacher Mrs. Catherine Bekker. “I think they purify the air, and personally, I just love plants.” High school English teacher Mr. Jens Hieber, whose classroom is considered by students as one of the coziest in the school, noted their plants’ potential to create a positive atmosphere: “There’s something about having living things in a space that makes it better,” he stated. “When humans enter a place that’s totally sterile, with no living things at all—I don’t think that’s the best for them.” A semblance of nature, however, doesn’t have the same effect as the real thing, as evidenced by Mr. Joshua Anderson, who wasn’t aware of the plants in his classroom—precisely because they were fake. “We have plastic plants?” the high school Bible tea...

Strange, it’s 5:30 pm already, shouldn’t the campus be closed? Why is the field covered with students of all ages? While some students are kicking footballs and running on the open field, others are swinging and jumping on the playground. Beneath the laughter and the occasional screams of excitement, parents scattered around the field chit-chatting in the background. Today is a special day - it’s the MS and HS Open House! Ms. Wood, the Head of School, explained, “Open House is for our whole community to come together. The parents, and the students, and the staff, and everybody get to meet and get to know one another. We want the parents to meet the teachers, but also everybody just to have dinner and play; have fun together!” During the first hour, the high school teachers waited in their classrooms, welcoming any visiting families. There aren’t many, as participation in such events tends to drop with higher grade levels: the number of groups most teachers attend to is no more than the...

Right after lunch, the seniors gathered outside near the steps of the Harbor. The instructions from the camera crew were simple: tallest students at the back, shortest students in front, everyone must be standing, everyone must be visible. We shuffled around trying to figure out where we belonged, squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder onto the steps. With so many people packed together, everyone looked like they came out of a shower with their striking pink seniors shirts by the time the photographer was ready. By 1 p.m., the Harbor steps became a human staircase of seniors, packed tightly together under the afternoon heat.  First was the formal picture. Stand still. Face forward. Smile.  Then came the freestyle photo, when the carefully arranged senior class finally got to break formation and do something less serious. The moment the group photo was done, the entire group seemed to scatter at once. After standing so close together in the heat, people scattered off almost immediately;...

SPLASH! Naomi O’quin (12) shoved me into the pool at Lost Paradise Resort, forcing me to come to terms with the water’s chilling temperature. She then proceeded to jump in, spraying water over everyone nearby. Many of my friends who had already been on the ExCom retreat before told me that for the first 1.5 hours of free time after arriving at Lost Paradise Resort, people usually go to the pool and have some fun. So we did! All the seniors, a sophomore, and a couple of the freshmen went to the pool, though the freshmen were on the other side.  “Marco!” shouted John Pham (12).  “Polo!” replied everyone else.  Jaden Lee (12) then attempted to push different people towards John in the hope that they would become the next “Marco.”  Ethan Khor (10) especially was targeted numerous times by Jaden and, as a result, became Marco several times. We played more games: silent Marco Polo and Sharks and Minnows, but we soon had to leave so that we could shower before dinner. Once ...

Fast reflexes, powerful slams, and long rallies embodied the match involving Cay Den Eu (12), Aiden Ko (12), David Isaac Lee (12), and YJ Lim (12) on Monday, August 17. After having a scrumptious meal at the Galley, these students were prepared to fight for the king’s space in four-square. With the Harbor Hall behind him, Cay Den held his ground in the king's space, not letting anyone catch him off guard. David and YJ were plotting to overthrow his rule on the court so they could advance to the next spaces. Aiden was aloof with a look on his face that nobody could clearly interpret.  This round, Cay Den served the ball to David rapidly, catching him off guard. Despite the surprise, David smacked the ball and sent it flying toward Aiden’s queen’s square. Like that, the game got more and more intense, where one slip up would leave a person stuck in the loser’s square.  Instead of hitting the ball aimlessly, YJ unleashed his master plan to foil Cay Den. He mightily knocked the ba...

Picture Day happens at the start of every year. These school pictures are used as students’ official pictures and for the yearbook. For us seniors, it is our last one.  It began with our class photo on the Harbor steps. The time allocated for the pictures was right after lunch. People who went out for lunch and ran back just to make it on time were very sweaty, and it certainly did not help that it was extremely hot and humid on that day. We were told to line up from tallest to shortest and take our positions on the Harbor steps. As one of the first in line, we could enjoy the cool and refreshing sea breeze as soon as we were on the landing. However, that enjoyment did not last long as others began to fill the stairs, and the breeze was blocked by a bunch of high school students emitting body heat. I thought that once everyone was in position, they would take the photo, and we could all go, but I was wrong.  Aiden Ko (12) told me that “the photos took longer than I expected an...

Back pains, ankle sprains, bug bites, and late nights. These were the aftermath of our LD retreat that we were all so eager about, but it was all worth it. When we first got together, no one really knew what to expect because we all came from different friend groups. Most of them were just hi-bye friends to me, but we have one thing in common: to lead Dalat closer to Jesus. Everyone on LD is a senior. There are nine of us and we can’t split into even groups, so we made Kathy split the groups. Our group was the biggest: me, Kathy Jones, Naomi O’quin, Noah Dobson, and Nathan Evans. We were called…Dinococo! Inspired by Dinoco from Cars and Coco by the Milo Dinosaur drink, it was a mix of what we liked. The other team was Olive Berends, Naomi Neiger, Mia Yuan and Jay Chong. They were called…Soy Sauce! Inspired by being the salt of the world. The first stop of our bonding was go-karting. We arrived at 1:50, and we each raced two ten-minute rounds. In our groups, we secretly discussed our ga...

Although we have sometimes chosen the pink color, from now on, let’s choose the “right thing.” Sky blue in 2024; purple in 2025; and now, in 2026, PINK. If God were to take away our free will, the PINK Seniors would not be everywhere at Dalat. This is not because it is painful to our eyes– which is true–but because it leads us to complain too much, which is probably sin. We have the freedom to choose many things, which has resulted in not choosing the best color. You can clap your hands when you want, you can take a walk when you want a breeze, and you can help others if you want to make the “right choice.”  Since we have the freedom of choice, let’s use it for the good! Let's reject the “pink” one! “Let’s do the ‘right’ thing,” as Mr. Arnold–the new high school principal and, apparently, an ice-cream lover–emphasized on the first day of school! Let's make our friends smile one more time! Let's welcome our new friends as we were welcomed when we first came to Dalat! There i...