Wazzaaaaa!
It's been 8 months with loads of days and nights of crazy work, insane parties, and just chilling.
What I'm writing here is my opinion alone, and none reading this should be influenced on any decision whatsoever. Unless you've experienced it for yourself, you can't really judge, can you? And even if you've heard from someone who claims to have experienced it, you're flattening your own identity [not to mention a chance to see things you haven't before] by accepting or propagating what she/he said.
Its the same with most things in life, not just AIESEC.You really CANNOT make a decision based on others' opinions.
So here goes.
The first time I heard of AIESEC, I was skeptical, and how. "Non stop parties", they told me, "and you'll have to keep paying through your nose." When I look back now, whoever told me all that stuff(I honestly don't even remember who said that) it seems so far from the truth it's not even funny lol. I mean, I get that we do have a lot of fun, but that is FAR from the only thing that we do. There are so many facets of the things we make happen in AIESEC, it's hard to describe.
So I said, well, let's see how I'll like this "Non stop partying" and I went to this random place in Koramangla with a friend, grudgingly missing the college bus. When we got near there, we met some other friends who were doing the interview too. They seemed sketchy about what this actually was. I got super lazy, and I didn't really need another source of party invites, and my friend was super skeptic too(as he is with absolutely everything in life). So we decided to screw it, and we left without the interview and caught the college bus half way!
6 months down the line, I hear that recruitments are on again. This time round, I'm as clueless as the last. But I spoke to a few friends about it. Two in particular told me to try it, and quit if I didn't like it. Assuming I got in anyway. So one evening I was doing nothing, and the car was free. I like driving in the rain and the weather that day was awesome so I thought lets see what this is. I met quite a few people I knew at the place. I finished my interview that evening with one random guy I had seen in college a couple of times with a cool camera. Later I found out he was LCP and is now on the MC!
I got in. We had one killer induction ceremony that left us all pumped about what we were setting out to do. The seemingly pointless jiving was unusual, but I enjoyed it and also learned never to wear a sweater to any AIESEC gathering cuz it's quite a workout!
About a week after that, AIESEC in India was hosting the International Conference of 2010 in Hyderabad, which around 800-900 people from around the globe were attending. AIESEC in Bangalore was hosting an event here, called India Night, which basically showcased Indian culture to all the delegates.
Now this conference, is a big deal. Only senior members who have posts of high responsibility in each country are allowed to attend. Since Bangalore was hosting the event, our senior members had to go there to make everything happen. For some random new recruit like me, this event was far off the horizon.
It so happened that the people we had hired for designing and helping with the event disappeared or "gave haath", colloquially put. I had worked with some of the senior members for a college fest previously, having helped with some Photoshop editing. So they asked me to help with the design of the memorabilia and the posters and backdrops and whatnot. Two senior members landed up at my house at 11:30 in the night with emergency work to be done for the event. That was one retarded night, sneaking around trying not to wake my parents.
I did what I could, and the head of Talent Management called me during college the next day. She was very random, seemingly having called for nothing. But then she said I was allowed to go to Hyderabad! I didn't really know what this meant. For one, I didn't know what the point of going was. Secondly, asking parents to randomly leave to Hyderabad that very evening for an event of an organization I'd joined two days back was something new, and opportunistic.
My parents surprisingly agreed, and off I went, probably one of of the 10 new recruits to have attended an International Conference. This got me quite psyched about AIESEC, and has probably contributed to me staying in the organization for so long.
After all the hype and brouhaha of the conference was over, I was still quite clueless about what AIESEC did, and if we really got any work done. One rude shock I was in for!
We were allotted departments, and I was selected to be in supposedly coolest department of them all, TN! [Yes. It is debatably THE coolest dept. any AIESECer can be in!]
And so it began. Doing corporate appointments, chatting up random firang strangers online, and working late nights at random Photoshop jobs. I liked what I was doing. And my Vice President at the time [Now LCP] was soopar fly[lol] and his confidence and poise in interactions with top shot corporates showed me what AIESEC could let you be. It went on and on. Busy ALL the way. I felt like punching whoever told me that AIESEC was all parties. But I loved it. College was so drab and eventless, I felt I could be doing so much more with all that time. I liked all the extra stuff I was doing, and the people I was meeting. [Still do!]
That's that. I like what I do as part of AIESEC. Many have cursed and ranted and raved about me being in AIESEC, but I could'nt bother less. Most of the things that we do here aren't easily matched elsewhere.
To be such a young student and have one on one interactions with high up Corporate heads, and to have a network of friends in some umpteen different countries is quite something. Besides that, you can find almost no irritating person here. [with some exceptions lol] They're a pleasant bunch of people to hang out with, and many of them have become good friends. This is perhaps the biggest thing about being in AIESEC according to me. Some of the people you meet are just so like you, and can be inspirations and friends at the same time. Some people here are capable of changing the way you think and your perspective on life. Most, for the better. I'm not saying it's this dreamland of cool people. But it sure does have some that you can trust.
As for the partying, I can safely say that I have never been in a party that started at 4:00am after a continuous 10 hour+ stretch of work! 4 friggin am! XD Those have been some of the most memorable occasions of my life.
Corporate exposure, network, learning how to manage time even when you have none, meeting some awesome people and just plain fun are some of the reasons I'm here. Then again, if you haven't tried it, you wouldn't know would you?
I still don't think I've describe AIESEC as much as I would have liked. But at this point, my patience is running low, and food awaits. Anyone can say whatever they like about AIESEC, but I shall maintain my views, thank you!!
Hopefully I can update this article soon, but who knows. =P Later!
It's been 8 months with loads of days and nights of crazy work, insane parties, and just chilling.
What I'm writing here is my opinion alone, and none reading this should be influenced on any decision whatsoever. Unless you've experienced it for yourself, you can't really judge, can you? And even if you've heard from someone who claims to have experienced it, you're flattening your own identity [not to mention a chance to see things you haven't before] by accepting or propagating what she/he said.
Its the same with most things in life, not just AIESEC.You really CANNOT make a decision based on others' opinions.
The first time I heard of AIESEC, I was skeptical, and how. "Non stop parties", they told me, "and you'll have to keep paying through your nose." When I look back now, whoever told me all that stuff(I honestly don't even remember who said that) it seems so far from the truth it's not even funny lol. I mean, I get that we do have a lot of fun, but that is FAR from the only thing that we do. There are so many facets of the things we make happen in AIESEC, it's hard to describe.
So I said, well, let's see how I'll like this "Non stop partying" and I went to this random place in Koramangla with a friend, grudgingly missing the college bus. When we got near there, we met some other friends who were doing the interview too. They seemed sketchy about what this actually was. I got super lazy, and I didn't really need another source of party invites, and my friend was super skeptic too(as he is with absolutely everything in life). So we decided to screw it, and we left without the interview and caught the college bus half way!
6 months down the line, I hear that recruitments are on again. This time round, I'm as clueless as the last. But I spoke to a few friends about it. Two in particular told me to try it, and quit if I didn't like it. Assuming I got in anyway. So one evening I was doing nothing, and the car was free. I like driving in the rain and the weather that day was awesome so I thought lets see what this is. I met quite a few people I knew at the place. I finished my interview that evening with one random guy I had seen in college a couple of times with a cool camera. Later I found out he was LCP and is now on the MC!
I got in. We had one killer induction ceremony that left us all pumped about what we were setting out to do. The seemingly pointless jiving was unusual, but I enjoyed it and also learned never to wear a sweater to any AIESEC gathering cuz it's quite a workout!
About a week after that, AIESEC in India was hosting the International Conference of 2010 in Hyderabad, which around 800-900 people from around the globe were attending. AIESEC in Bangalore was hosting an event here, called India Night, which basically showcased Indian culture to all the delegates.
Now this conference, is a big deal. Only senior members who have posts of high responsibility in each country are allowed to attend. Since Bangalore was hosting the event, our senior members had to go there to make everything happen. For some random new recruit like me, this event was far off the horizon.
It so happened that the people we had hired for designing and helping with the event disappeared or "gave haath", colloquially put. I had worked with some of the senior members for a college fest previously, having helped with some Photoshop editing. So they asked me to help with the design of the memorabilia and the posters and backdrops and whatnot. Two senior members landed up at my house at 11:30 in the night with emergency work to be done for the event. That was one retarded night, sneaking around trying not to wake my parents.
I did what I could, and the head of Talent Management called me during college the next day. She was very random, seemingly having called for nothing. But then she said I was allowed to go to Hyderabad! I didn't really know what this meant. For one, I didn't know what the point of going was. Secondly, asking parents to randomly leave to Hyderabad that very evening for an event of an organization I'd joined two days back was something new, and opportunistic.
My parents surprisingly agreed, and off I went, probably one of of the 10 new recruits to have attended an International Conference. This got me quite psyched about AIESEC, and has probably contributed to me staying in the organization for so long.
After all the hype and brouhaha of the conference was over, I was still quite clueless about what AIESEC did, and if we really got any work done. One rude shock I was in for!
We were allotted departments, and I was selected to be in supposedly coolest department of them all, TN! [Yes. It is debatably THE coolest dept. any AIESECer can be in!]
And so it began. Doing corporate appointments, chatting up random firang strangers online, and working late nights at random Photoshop jobs. I liked what I was doing. And my Vice President at the time [Now LCP] was soopar fly[lol] and his confidence and poise in interactions with top shot corporates showed me what AIESEC could let you be. It went on and on. Busy ALL the way. I felt like punching whoever told me that AIESEC was all parties. But I loved it. College was so drab and eventless, I felt I could be doing so much more with all that time. I liked all the extra stuff I was doing, and the people I was meeting. [Still do!]
That's that. I like what I do as part of AIESEC. Many have cursed and ranted and raved about me being in AIESEC, but I could'nt bother less. Most of the things that we do here aren't easily matched elsewhere.
To be such a young student and have one on one interactions with high up Corporate heads, and to have a network of friends in some umpteen different countries is quite something. Besides that, you can find almost no irritating person here. [with some exceptions lol] They're a pleasant bunch of people to hang out with, and many of them have become good friends. This is perhaps the biggest thing about being in AIESEC according to me. Some of the people you meet are just so like you, and can be inspirations and friends at the same time. Some people here are capable of changing the way you think and your perspective on life. Most, for the better. I'm not saying it's this dreamland of cool people. But it sure does have some that you can trust.
As for the partying, I can safely say that I have never been in a party that started at 4:00am after a continuous 10 hour+ stretch of work! 4 friggin am! XD Those have been some of the most memorable occasions of my life.
Corporate exposure, network, learning how to manage time even when you have none, meeting some awesome people and just plain fun are some of the reasons I'm here. Then again, if you haven't tried it, you wouldn't know would you?
I still don't think I've describe AIESEC as much as I would have liked. But at this point, my patience is running low, and food awaits. Anyone can say whatever they like about AIESEC, but I shall maintain my views, thank you!!
Hopefully I can update this article soon, but who knows. =P Later!
Love it! :)
ReplyDeleteWhao !!! I absolutely loved every bit of it !!!!
ReplyDeleteneed to make more firangi friends.. but its almost time to leave !! *sigh* You couldn't have defined it any better pvk !! <3 <3
Once an AIESECer always an AIESECer !! :)