Song of the Day:

12:51 by The Strokes

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Rawlla Cawsta *British Accent Version*

There's just something about being the only one in a crowd of people that doesn't drink and have sex that I just can't get over. Especially when both points are magnified at the same time. My first night in London, I couldn't shake off the feeling that AIESEC tends to put me in an environment I don't believe in. But then again, maybe it exposes me to the world beyond the shelter I live in. It's an experience you don't get anywhere else; the internationalism, the amount of responsibility, the exposure to new ideas and new cultures.

 

This weekend I learnt something new about AIESEC. I learnt that it operates in over 100 countries. A fact that is written on every flyer and webpage ever created to comply with the AIESEC brand. A fact that I got to experience first hand and see with my own eyes for the very first time. I sat at a long table with six other people, each one from a different part of the world, each one representing their country. I felt like I was back as a delegate in Model United Nations, except that this wasn't a model. The people representing each country represented the countries they came from. And the issues we were discussing were real. It made me feel important and influential.

 

Next month I am going to Brazil for a full scale AIESEC conference. I can't describe how pumped I am to multiply the number of people I'll meet by 100. Add a odd hundred to their nationalities. Intensify the experience a bit more. I feel like I'm writing up a poster ad for AIESEC, but this is seriously what it is. If anyone (but probably no one) scrolls down to earlier AIESEC-related posts that include me cursing the day I joined they'll be confused. But AIESEC, just like parents and boyfriends, has that inherent ability to give you rollercoaster highs and lows. This is the high.