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Dartmouth Families

Korean Parents Share Dartmouth Experience

February 2006

Their children may attend college halfway around the world, but four Dartmouth mothers in South Korea recently discovered the distance to Hanover isn't so great when you have other parents to share your experiences with. Thanks to the outreach of Elizabeth and Charles Chang A'84 of Seoul (parents of Philip '08), Elizabeth hosted three Dartmouth mothers for coffee at her home this past January—Joo Hi Hahn (mother of Eui Suk Chung '08), Joomyung Yoon (mother of Doh Jin '08), and Miho Park (mother of Jae Hyuk Chang '08).

"We had a wonderful discussion for almost three hours and shared many stories about our families and our children's experiences at Dartmouth," Mrs. Chang recalled. "We all went away from the meeting more knowledgeable and agreed to hold another meeting in the near future."

As Parents and Grandparents Fund volunteers for Seoul, the Changs are just one of the families reaching out to Dartmouth parents and showing their support for the College. "We feel fortunate to have Philip attend Dartmouth," Mr. Chang wrote in a letter to Parents Fund director Heidi Anderson. "Dartmouth has provided the academic rigor as well as the environment for Philip to become his own person, comfortable with being a Korean-American, staking his place in his community, and learning that it is important to make a difference. This is everything we could have asked for in our son's college education."

About volunteering, Mr. Chang continued, "It has been an honor to have been asked by the Dartmouth Parents and Grandparents Fund to assist them in developing awareness of their efforts to the Dartmouth community in Korea. We hope that our combined efforts will raise awareness among parents of current, as well as past, students, and foster camaraderie to contribute to the growth of Dartmouth."

If you would like to lead an outreach effort for Dartmouth parents, either in the United States or abroad, please contact Heidi Anderson.