KDI School faculty and staff— Prof. Taejong Kim, Prof. Jaeun Shin, Ms. Min Young Seo and Mr. Gil-Sang Won—together with Ms. Jin Young Hyun (2011 PhD, Korea) left for the Philippines on May 7^th to work with the World Bank and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in planning an impact evaluation study for a major health insurance reform initiative. The initiative (Primary Care Benefit 1) is designed to promote access to quality primary healthcare among the poor rural households, whereby standardized treatments would be provided free of charge for common diseases including pneumonia, asthma, diabetes, diarrhea, and hypertension.

Before the departure they were able to take advantage of this business trip to meet some dear old friends, joining in the first official Philippine alumni reunion on the evening of May 18^th. Four alumni made it to the gathering in Manila: Mary Sol Dela Pena Dela Cruz (2009 MPP, Philippines), Corrine Valenzuela Bernaldez (2009 MPP, Philippines), Vanessa Jimenez (2009 MPP, Philippines), and Wendy Montealto (2009 MPP, Philippines). Mary Sol graciously agreed to serve as the president of the Philippine Alumni Association, and Vanessa as the secretary.

All of them were excited to share latest changes in their career: Wendy now working for the central bank, Vanessa for a private firm in Makati, Corrine for the local World Bank office. Mary Sol was recently promoted in the Department of Labor. Everyone agreed that Corrine’s new job at the World Bank has to do with the recent completion of her master’s thesis. So here’s a message for those of you who are struggling to get your thesis written up: down the road, your thesis and master’s degree may bring you a promising new job! Another take-home lesson was for international students presently toiling in Seoul: you are going to miss many things once you leave Korea, so enjoy while you can. High on our four alumni’s list were bicycle ride along the Han River, singing in a karaoke bar, a roll of gimbap, and mountain hiking.