Greetings Wellesley Alumnae! The changing autumn leafs mark a season of reflection. TheSWC has had many visitors from the college in 2011. Alongwith our usual social gatherings like the Thanksgiving Dinnerand Admissions Dinner, Provost Shennan’s and ProfessorKodera’s visits brought out many alums to connect again. Welook forward to more fun events to come in 2012.Finally, as officers, we are always open to feedback andsuggestions. It is an honor to serve the Wellesley Alumnae andto bring Wellesley memories to Seoul.
Sincerely,
Club Officers:
President: Dr. Kim Hunmin ‘80
VP: Kim Seoun (Carol) ‘95
Admissions Rep: Hong Minah ‘92
Secretary: Kim Arcadia ’95 & Kim Victoria ‘04
Treasurer: Park Heather ‘05
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A Letter From the Club President2011 has certainly been an exciting yearfor the Seoul Wellesley College Club.We kicked off 2011 welcoming ProvostShennan to Seoul in January. This wasthe first time in a long time that such ahigh-ranking official from the collegecame to visit Seoul. The club benefitedfrom Provost Shennan's insight toWellesley and it was a rare opportunityto have current students, alumna, andparents together for an event. In thespring, we also welcomed ProfessorKodera to an admitted student'sluncheon. Finally, this past year wasanother record-breaking year foradmissions from Korea, as you can readfrom Minah's admission's report.Looking forward to another wonderfulyear in 2012! Hope to see you at theannual Thanksgiving event!
Sincerely,
Kim Hunmin ' 80
***********************************Recap of 2011 EventsThanksgiving Dinner at Berlin (November 26, 2011)Our annual Thanksgiving Dinner was a wonderful chancefor alumnae to connect before the end of the year. Astradition, there was no turkey in sight, only GermanSchnitzel and good conversation. Ten alumnae were inattendance.
Professor Kodera Lunch at Bibigo (April 9, 2011)Professor Jim Kodera came to Seoul in the spring toattend the annual meeting of the Korean Convocationof the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry Council,for which he is currently serving as President.He took that meeting as an opportunity to meetwith the Seoul Wellesley Club also meetingwith admitted prospective students. He sharedwith alumnae and students some riveting insightsabout the development of religion in America andAsia. Additionally, his general warmth andenthusiasm for Wellesley demonstrated the carethat professors have for their students. There wereabout 19 people in attendance for a lovely lunch ofKorean food in downtown Seoul.
Victoria George Dinner at My Thai (April 19, 2011)Assistant Director for Admissions Victoria George visitedSeoul this past April as part of Wellesley's AsiaAdmissions Tour. Vicky travels every year with three otheruniversities: Yale, Duke, and the University of Chicago.Wellesley's presentation was the best, hands down. Vickydid her annual presentation at Seoul Foreign School, andWellesley alumnae hosted a dinner in Itaewon for her thenext day. Six alumnae were in attendance.
Provost Shennan's Visit (January 14 – 17th, 2011)It was an amazing honor to have Provost AndrewShennan spend four days with the Seoul WellesleyClub.He started his trip with a tour and meetings withhigh-ranking officials of Ewha University hostedby Dr. Kim Humin ’80. Provost Shennan wasimpressed by Ewha’s University Campus Centerand continued to reinforce the special relationshipbetween the two universities.Provost Shennan was able to do a little site seeing within Seoul visiting the palaces, Insa-dong, anddowntown. He also took a day trip to the DMZ.The highlight of his trip was, of course, the SWCLuncheon held at Sketchbook in Chungdam-dong.Lee In-ho ’60 opened the luncheon with stories ofher days at Wellesley and how far the institution hascome in regards to Korean students. The gatheringwas a diverse mix of current students, alumnae from70’s to 2000’s, and a handful of parents.While this was Provost Shennan’s first trip to Seoul,he promised it certainly would not be the last.
********************************Fiscal ReportEach year we publish our fiscal report to showclub members how we are spending our budget.Since there are no membership fees we welcomefund-raising ideas, suggestions, or donations tocontinue Club activities. Any amount is mostwelcome.
Please send your donation to:
Hana Bank 하나은행
acct# 128-910318-75707
Kim Hunmin 김헌민
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Wellesley Alumna Interviews ReportLast year Seoul Wellesley Club had a recordnumber of interview requests. In total, wereceived 23 interview requests from applicantsfrom a range of schools – mostly, internationaland foreign language high schools in Korea. Wehad four alumna interviewers: Chriss KyueunCho, Jennifer Boram Chun (both recentgraduates of the Class of 2010), Karin JeeEunNam (who has been interviewing for Wellesleyfor the past two years) and Minah Hong (AAR).Wellesley cannot predict how many applicantswill request the interview. Hence, we receivedthe bulk of our requests (sometimes as many asfive a day) at the “last minute” in December,the busiest month of the year! Thank you somuch to our interviewers, who dedicated theirvaluable time and resources to promotingWellesley.Our “pool” consists of students living andstudying in Korea as well as students studyingabroad who list their country of residence asKorea. We did not interview any boardingschool students this year. All twenty-threestudents who were interviewed last year (2010-2011) were students at the international orforeign schools (국제, 외국인 고등학교) orforeign language high schools (외고).
-22 students were admitted to Wellesleyfrom Korea (including boarding school students).
-16 students decided to enroll at Wellesleyand are currently there.
-7 students were from international highschools in Korea (KIS, SIS, SFS, GSIS and Kent)
-6 students were boarding school students
-1 student was from Minjok LeadershipAcademy
-1 student was from foreign language highschool (HAFS)
-1 student was from a Korean public highschool in Daegu
-6 students were interviewed by Wellesley alumnae in Korea
Dean Shennan mentioned during his visit inJanuary that Wellesley is one of a handful of colleges that is still able to provide applicants with the opportunity to have an alumna interview abroad. The interview process is so important andcritical to promoting Wellesley. Please consider being an alumna interviewer and help continueour college’s tradition of excellence.
If you are interested in becoming an alumna interviewer orinterested in learning more about the interview process, contact Minah Hong (Class of 1992) at
wowheeyoon@yahoo.com or 010-3720-2734.
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CONGRATULATIONSCongratulations to Carol Kim (Class of 1995) of becoming the co-President of the Seven Sisters Association of Korea. The Seven SistersAssociation includes alums from Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College,Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College.
