YASH DOSHI'S LIFE-CHANGING SUMMER IN RUSSIA (Youth Global Entrepreneurial Program- YGEP)

"To cross the line, takes a tiny step."
The decision to go on a GCDP was my tiny step. But that tiny step took humongous amount of courage. And it was the best step I have taken in my life. I was matched to the project "International Kindergarten" in Tomsk (Siberia), Russia. I had no idea about where I was going and what I was going to do or with whom I was going to live. I was a little apprehensive about the fact whether or not I will be able to adjust to such an unfamiliar atmosphere. 

I knew it would be tough and challenging, but that was exactly the reason I wanted to go. I was determined to take the “Life Changing Experience” AIESEC had offered. I reached Tomsk on 23rd May, and since that day I never looked back. I was working with interns from Singapore, China, Italy and Colombia. I was assigned to work in a school with kids of about 4-8 years old and it was such a different and enriching experience. You don’t know how much you can learn by simply interacting with kids, something I never thought I was capable of.

I met people from more than 15 countries, interacted with them, worked with them, and learnt about their countries and their culture. I was simply amazed. It made me realize the value of my own country and culture, which I also shared with them. One thing I noticed was, we were all so different yet so similar. Our habits, cultures, thinking, choices etc all crossed paths at some point in time. I was so similar to these people who were once complete strangers.

It was the first time I was living alone and I would prefer it no other way than on an AIESEC exchange. The city became home to me and the friends I made became family. It shows you what the world has to offer. It was truly a life changing experience for me and I feel every student deserves one. The world is yours if you want it. And AIESEC gives the world to you.

Yash Doshi, 18

AIESEC Mumbai

Summer intern (GCDP) in Russia

Read More

VIR SAINI'S LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE IN POLAND ( Youth Global Entrepreneurial Program-YGEP)

When I was leaving for Poland I was both scared and excited. I was going to a completely new place and would be living with absolute strangers for 2 months and I had no idea what the future had in store for me. I think that's the beauty and the adventure of it all; not knowing what the future holds for one. However, now that I have ended my journey, all I can say is it was the best adventure of my life. 

I was hired as an intern for a project called ‘Enter Your Future’. My job role was to inspire and motivate high school students to be more entrepreneurial and guide them to come out of their comfort zone by helping them to increase their understanding and tolerance towards other ideas, cultures, people and the world around them.

In the course of my internship, I met a lot of new people from so many different cultures, travelled around Poland and Europe, with and without friends. Sometimes with minimal bus fare and no sleeping arrangement sorted. I thought I was different from the people around me, but at the end of the day we all had more similarities than I would have ever imagined. I discovered that no matter how far away I was from home, there were always small things that made me feel at home. Maybe that’s the special factor of an AIESEC internship, wherever you are, you're in touch with AIESECers, and it feels like home. You literally have a home across the globe. Its a community where you effortlessly fit into and there are no boundaries or barriers.

But in the midst of all these discoveries you realize that its time to go back home. And that is the most difficult thing you face because once you have witnessed something so amazing, you can't imagine life without it and all the people who are now family. HENCE it makes me dream bigger, makes me determined to keep striving for more because I have lived something larger than life. So that’s how its a "Life Changing Experience". I've still just seen a tiny bit of the world and I cant wait to explore it all.

Virbhan Saini, 18
Senior Manager at AIESEC Mumbai (Marketing)
Summer intern (GCDP) at Poland, 2013

Read More

TINA DSOUZA'S LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE IN GREECE! (Youth Global Entrepreneurial Program- YGEP))

On the 29th of May 2013, I landed in Greece, with a bag of necessities, excitement and some fear. My dream had just begun. From that day on my whole life was going to change in ways I could only imagine.

I was working at an NGO that took care of children having special needs. It was something totally different from what I have done earlier. This was my first close experience with kids that have special needs and I cannot explain the joy one experiences when you make someone smile. I will never forget my first day at the NGO, it was the cutest sight where some of the kids came running to hug us non-Greeks. I don’t think they had ever met an Indian before and so they seemed fascinated and a little hesitant. We had to participate in their daily activities, help them with English lessons, and take them out once a week to the beach/tavern/café. It showed me a whole new side to life. It had changed my perspective and value for a lot of things.

I made some amazing friends, took the most random trips, got hosted by random AIESECers. Every weekend I found myself in a new city/a new island/new country, all with new people! Going bag-packing for 9 days to Italy all on my own was one of the highlights of my trip. I made a lifetime’s worth of great memories, made friends from so many different countries.  I dived into a body of water without knowing how to swim! I’ve learnt a thousand different new things during my exchange experience, but the most important thing I learnt is to ALWAYS TAKE THE LEAP, no matter what. I think life is like diving into a body of water without knowing how to swim and eventually learn to get comfortable with the water and come afloat. AIESEC sells its exchange product as a “life changing experience” oh but trust me and anyone else who’s been on exchange that, that is an understatement.

Get ready, don’t think twice, pick-up your bags and GO. You will come back changed, changed in so many ways that you’d surprise yourself. You will begin to live life and take every opportunity that comes your way and turn so many tables.  

Thank you AIESEC for giving me the opportunity of having this life-changing experience :)

Tina Dsouza
Executive Board Member, AIESEC Mumbai
Summer intern (GCDP) in Greece, 2013

Read More

HOSTING AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT - INSTEAD OF VISITING A COUNTRY LET IT VISIT YOU.

Imagine this. You're carrying your backpack and luggage, you step out of the airport in a completey different land, strange faces, new language and absolutely no idea of the future - Fills you up with a sense of adventure and excitement doesn't it? But then it hits you, the fear that is. Almost feeling alien like because you're all by yourself. That's when we step in. And then you see a banner of your name and a bunch of people smiling and waiting for you to take you to a new home. That one smile and welcome banner can make you go from alien mode to native mode. A simple handshake between you and your hosts is not just the sign of a new friendship, its a gesture of the meeting of two complete different worlds, confluence of two cultures, the moment when you form your first contact with your new family. Wouldn't you feel so awesome when someone makes you feel at home even when your miles away from home? And believe me when you're responsible for someone's happiness, you very well will do everything to make them feel special. And nothing gives more joy than being the reason for someone's smile.

That's a fraction of what the host and a trainee feel. That's just a glimpse of what hosting a foreign exchange student feels like. Its almost like a whole new country visiting you rather than you going there. The funny part is you find how different they are so intriguing at first and then as time passes you realise how similar you are. Its the best way to learn about a country's culture from the native person itself! Its a whole new perspective. You'll probably see a country from the eyes of a citizen rather than tourist. The depth of the culture that one person holds is immense enough to keep you in a conversation about their homeland all night. You'll be surprised at how much you can learn by simply listening. It probably changes how you look at yourself. Gives you a whole new insight into yourself, there's so much scope to change, adapt, grow and develop and incorporate from them. You form a relation with a foreign land even without visiting it and probably know more about it than any tourist. Its said that education should teach you to use your mind and grow, not to fill it up with facts for a test. And a that's exactly what an exchange experience provides to both the host and trainee. Plus being responsible for someone else apart from yourself makes you grow as a person. The bond between a host and trainee is very special. You then gain a family and a home miles away.

I had a similar experience. An intern had arrived from Romania late evening and I got a call from my friend who was in charge of placing her saying she was really scared and she was crying. Since she was just a minute away I thought of going down to her and just being a friend because that's probably what she needed. When I saw her, her skin was flushed and pale, her eyes were watering, her brown hair untidily tied and she sat on her packed bags and held her phone waiting for her mom to call. I couldn't imagine how it must be feeling like in a strange land. I imagined myself in her shoes and the first thing that came to my mind was "I need a friend who'll understand". So I decided to make her feel at home by actually taking her home for two nights. She needed the comfort of a home and a family, a feeling of belonging and warmth. And the minute we moved her to my house, she was relived. The fact that someone cared about her, that someone was there made her happy. She was delighted to spend time with my family and suddenly from the devastated scared girl she went on to being the Ambassador of Romania and kept on talking. I saw the difference of how a friendly environment actually bought out her real chirpy self. And the feeling you get when you make someone happy, specially a stranger, gets you a step closer to inner peace and happiness. The world needs more smiles and look you literally got a step closer. We spent the whole night talking about each others lives and you'll be shocked at how similar and different you can be at the same time. The bond she formed with me was special, I was her first friend in a foreign land, she got the feeling of family and belonging at my home, she now trusted me and looked at me as her new family here. And I got a feeling of being responsible for someone else and it filled me with so much happiness. Well she moved out into a trainee flat and now we don't meet that often due to work. But she knows that I'm always ready to help her out and she can feel at home, she's welcome anytime. The best part? I didn't even have to tell her that, the friendship we forged was as good as family. And I realised this when she gave me special home-made Romanian jam which she had got to give to a special-someone here. I was so delighted to be her special-someone person. That jam is more than just a bottle of jelly. You can say I'm the jam and she's the bread. It can't be described how one feels when from a stranger someone goes on to be family.

So host a trainee, build a family across the world and be the reason behind someone's smile. Change a life for a change instead of going on a life changing experience.

Register here to host an Intern: http://goo.gl/ZwQnw9

Read More

The Chinese AIESEC Experience

I began my preparation for my Chinese adventure by dusting my history texts and reading up on all I could about the ancient dynasties of China. I found tales Qin dynasty and the Terracotta
Warriors most fascinating, and made up my mind to pay a visit.

Additionally, I decided to sign myself up for chopstick lessons, which were so willingly provided to me by Chinese Exchange Participants whom I had met during previous trips. A lot of effort went into these classes, and I am quite proud of how well I can now use these formidable tools. 

I stepped out into the country for the first time strutting to Kung Fu Fighting playing in the back of my head. Despite all the wild stories I had already read about China, the country completely blew my mind. As the most populous country in the world, China is not only enormous and highly diverse as a nation, but it is also one that is rapidly evolving and changing.

Chinese students are always trying to be ever adaptive in a fast-changing world, and this is what drove most of the students who were to be part of the English Learning program I was going to teach at the New Oriental School in Wuhan for the next two months. I helped them improve on their spoken English, and in return, they helped me with my deplorable skills in Mandarin.  

---

The most cherished memories of my trip included running across The Great Wall Of China, and the breath taking architecture and fierce night life of Shanghai. I experimented with the cuisine, ingesting everything from the simply delicious to the utterly bizarre.  

Read More

Mumbai Youth To Business Forum 2.0

‘Entrepreneurship’

Probably the most plundered synonym of this day and age. A word thrown around so casually and recklessly by every Tom, Dick and Harry aspiring to leave a mark on this little world of ours.  Something that has come with this new world mentality, where creating a job is a more viable option than looking for one. But then again, what gives me the right to go on ranting false prophet to this claim? Well, for one, attending the AIESEC Youth To Business Forum 2014.

One day, eight hours and over 500 delegates – All there for one reason and one reason only. To know what it means to actually be an Entrepreneur, a leader in every sense of the word. A visionary’s pilgrimage if you will lead by the who’s who of today’s industry. Mr Sunil Sanghai – Managing director of HSBC, Mr Shailendra Singh – Managing Director of Percept ltd, and Mr Ajeet Khurana of Angel Investors’ only to name a few. As they spoke about their journeys, struggles and joys to getting where they are today, and what it means to be a true Entrepreneur.

Over 500 youth from all across the city attended the Forum organised by AIESEC in Mumbai at International Convention Hall, Bombay Stock Exchange

 This is not a career coaching seminar, it is an experience, and a once in a life time one at that. Everybody wants to make it big. Everyone wants to touch the stars, but have you taken that first step yet? Well, speaking on behalf of these 500 delegates at the Bombay Stock Exchange on the 25^th of April and myself included – We certainly have.

-Neville Pinto.

Read More

An Exchanger's Perspective.

My AIESEC GIP in Poland was an experience unlike any other, one that has changed my life, broadened my mind, and presented to me a world of opportunities. I always wanted to travel on my own and do it while I was young and so after a very long and rather dull year of studying, I was thrilled to discover the GIP Programme. As soon as my exams got over, I applied to it and as luck and fate would have it, I got matched for a teaching internship really quickly. My very first solo travel experience was a 2 day trip to Delhi where I had my Poland visa interview which went so smoothly. I had so much fun on my own and I very excitedly got home and packed and set off for Poland, a mere 4 days after Delhi.

I was to teach English as part of AIESEC Rzeszow LC’s project “Speak with Us” to high schoolers and was on my own for a few days before another EP from Manila joined me. Because all we were required to do was get the students to speak as much as possible, work didn’t feel like work at all and I felt like I was getting paid to just make conversation! It was so fascinating to learn about these students’ lifestyle and ambitions, and just be able to connect with a young crowd that was so passionate about bettering their English.

 I developed and forged fantastic life-long rapports with some of them. The thing with teaching is, is that you also get to learn. You become a lot more empathetic, and you feel empowered in that they actually listen to you and look up to you, and everything you say can affect their thinking to an extent. I played a lot of interactive games with them, asked them riddles, made up fun stories, asked them would-you-rather questions and made my own version of “Draw my Life” called “Timeline.”  My idea was to make it a fun class and it really helped that we as EPs were given so much creative freedom as relatively inexperienced teachers.

Apart from the teaching experience, I also made new friends, fell in love with Polish food and culture and had awesome adventures. I went to an AIESEC LCC, and different places in Poland on weekends like Hadle Szklarskie, Krakow, Auschwitz & Birkenau, Lancut, and Warsaw which were all so richly laced with historical importance and so much fun. I also went to Prague which was so amazing. At the end of my internship, I went to London on my own and spent 9 glorious days exploring, and I felt like Dora!

If I have to summarise, I would say that it was the best adventure of my life, yet! Every day was something new, I had so much freedom, and I got to understand myself so much more. It has given me this insatiable appetite now for more and more GIPs!

- Kamna Karam

Read More

LOCAL TRAINING SEMINAR

AIESEC Mumbai's first Local Training Seminar of 2014 took place this Sunday, the 16th of February.

The event started off like most AIESEC functions do; with jiving.

New Members walked in to find the Management body and The Recruitment Organizing Committee 
demonstrating one of the core values of AIESEC; Enjoying Participation. Although new members were 
initially a bit shy, most of them shed their inhibitions, and joined in on the  jiving after a while.

Post an hour long session of jiving with the new recruits, the event moved on to the Executive body Walk In.  What followed was an illustrative session about the issues that currently plague our society, 

and how AIESEC, through its operations could help overcome them.

After a fun round of Icebreakers, The Executive Body expanded upon the history of AIESEC, its vision,  mission and values, and explained the core products of AIESEC. After the new recruits were given thorough theoretical knowledge of all things AIESEC, the new recruits  were then showcased another aspect of AIESEC Culture; the Living Library. 
In this block, they got to interact with EP's from Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Indonesia, to name a few, who  spoke to them about the Experience of spending a few months in another country. They also heard  various  EB and Rec. OC members speak about their Team Member  and Team Leader experiences.

AIESEC In Mumbai's first LTS of 2014 concluded with A Parents  Meet.

Read More