From a new member to the executive board - my AIESEC journey so far.

Photo credit to Timon Studier

Good whatever time it is for you right now, steemit!

I am part of the world's largest youth-run organization, AIESEC. (the acronym is used as the name itself now, but for a little bit of history, you can check out the wikipedia page) My journey has been an adventurous one. AIESEC is an organization that helps the youth of today learn leadership and teamwork skills to lead the world of tomorrow. The way we achieve our goal is by offering international internships and volunteering experiences to young people all over the world. We are represented in 126+ countries on six of the seven continents.

When I saw the info evening event for their recruitment on Facebook back in fall of 2017, I was immediately intrigued. When I arrived, I didn't get a clear sense of what AIESEC is and does, but I knew I wanted to join.

So I sent in my application

At the interview, among other things, I had to mention what I wanted to do, I answered that I'd like to organize interesting events that are useful for the people participating. Something along the lines of Life 101.

I also had to talk about the usual stuff, like why I want to join the organization, my previous experiences etc.

And so I was accepted.

Initial thoughts

When I first joined AIESEC, I was not the kind of person you'd expect to see in AIESEC. Not all that talkative, generally not a huge people person - that kind of person. However, similar to exposure therapy, as time went on, I became more like the person you'd expect to see in AIESEC. As I became more accustomed to the AIESEC organization culture, more bits and pieces of culture were introduced to us, new members.

Suspecting that I would probably come to enjoy what was offered, I decided that it would be a good idea to embrace the weirder parts of the AIESEC culture (I'll leave that part for you to explore if you decide to join AIESEC) and take part of it. My suspicions were right, I loved it. I've come to enjoy dancing, being more social and being a leader.

Taking the next step

One day, an email popped into my inbox. "Executive board applications" was the title and instructions to do so was the content. We had been told something about the EB applications before, but I hadn't really looked into it.
So I took a peek at the instructions in the attachments. The more I read the more interested I became. I decided to apply, because why not. I chose my primary preferred position to be Local Committee Vice President of Outgoing Exchange (LCVP oGX) and my secondary preferred position to be Local Committee Vice President of Talent Management (LCVP TM).

The confidence elections came, and all of the candidates got the confidence vote. Then came the personal meetings with the Local Committee President-elect and we all got accepted. Then came first meeting with the next executive board to choose the positions each of us would take over. In under 2 minutes, the positions were decided and we got to move on to naming our executive board.

Where we are now

The name has still not been decided and I will be taking over the position of Local Committee Vice President of Talent Management for the next term, starting on the first of February. I'm eagerly awaiting my term and am extremely excited to lead the organization forward as the current youngest member of my local committee.

To the future,
Silver Sten Kruus