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