I am an AIESECer 2.0

I believe that the world today requires more young people to make a stand on world issues.

What a better way than to tell a story and enable people to follow you on your journey?

I personally have been inspired numerous times by stories. For instance, the story of a U.S. teacher who never gave up on her down's syndrome student in a classroom full of normal children, even though she had no experience teaching such special kids; by the person who persevered in war times to save the lives of other people and showing strength of character in these trying times.. the teacher who taught her school children that discrimination can be created by the mind, by telling them that one group was called 'blue eyes' and they were the more superior children to the rest of them. The blue-eyed children began acting more superior, believed it. Then the next day the teacher came in and told the children that the brown-eyed kids were actually the more superior ones. Suddenly the blue-eyed children realized the tables were turned on them. Later the teacher revealed it was an experiment and that the superiority was all in their minds.. and how that turned into prejudice quickly. The children learnt immediately about prejudice in their schools that very day, and they never forgot that lesson.

I personally feel that stories are a concrete way to communicate that attitude, mindset and belief can make a world of a difference.

Many wars today happen because of stereotypes that becomes ingrained prejudice over time. I believe stories enables us to learn from character and identify the very role models we need in the world.

Most importantly, it is inspiring to hear stories about youths- absolutely amazing to be able to hear of young people having a level of character and maturity at a young age.

I'd love to hear more about youths and what they offer to make all the difference in the world.

To engage others with social issues has a special way to go: Emotional Connection. And how can we do it? The best way to reach "changemakers" is creating messages and material with the power of generate identification between the reader and the protagonist of the story.

If AIESEC receive more support, will bring in short term, thousands of opportunities to these people who wants to change themselves and the world. This is not only a showcast about imaginarium stories, is a door that able young people to understand that they have to put action everyday.

If a young shows that he/she CAN, why others not?
If a young shows that he/she is impacting society, why others not?
If a young shows that he/she is doing something in addition to the common activities, why others not?

It's important and necessary to promote that Changemakers are not strange people, are people who have a normal life but in an intensive point of view and action.

I am truly inspired just by the thought of seeing this happening. The mere idea of thousands of young people telling the stories of their own lives - stories of that small local impact they have created by a student run project and the difference it has brought to their lives, is so thrilling. The power of positive examples is the best way to market a drive towards positive living, and self development that is so needed nowadays among the young people.

This being said, I am sadly aware that a lot of the small good things happening around us, every day go simply unnoticed and thus miss to inspire many others. Therefore, i believe, such a project is an unique chance to inspire positive change for a better tomorrow, co-created by young people and not simply awaited tomorrow!

Good luck with this beautiful idea!

Emil Ivanov / Bulgaria

Storytelling is not as simple as it seems, it is really impacting, we should realize how significance it is to listen to someone or read it.

In this world where most of the people have their expectations down, a storytelling is what can up those ones and help individuals to impact. AIESEC develops young people in order to cause a good impact to society and we have develop many ways to do it...This one is one of them.

I believe that small and simple changes can make a big difference and this is one of those! I like this initiative because:

-It is by young people, for young people
-It is something already happening that will be scaled up and reaching more massive audiences
-It uses the best of social media and popular technology channels giving them a meaningful purpose
-It enriches Diversity and everybody have their space, from Kenya, Guatemala, Singapore or The Netherlands with equal chances

And moreover, because I have seen myself hundreds of this stories going unnoticed everyday: this brave HIV peer educator from Taiwan contributing to a project in Cameroon, the Polish student involved in a small enterprise in India, all young people involved in projects about Children, Environment, Peace, etc and even just all simple youth initiatives that are educating communities of students all around the world. The power of unleashing this potential can generate indeed a great change.

Looking forward to see this happening and writing my story

I think it will be an awesome initiative!

It will be a place for young people to find inspiration from other young people and the change they are trying to make in their communities.

Sitting at home, we will be able to see how the chinese and the Africans fight AIDS, brazilians support social ventures and the europeans explore the world and its challenges to bring home understanding.

And it goes beyond that, because it will enable them to connect and start their own international initiatives!

I am sure that, by being online, hope and opportunities will reach many around the world!

Bye!

This project is about inspiring a generation, through experiences of the same generation, to discover the role they can have in society, to discover the power they can have, despite their age, to make change happen.

In a period that this same generation is discovering the values that will drive them for they live, in a period when they are getting in touch with all types of opportunities and deciding what their life should be, sharing these stories of social impact can be powerful to change their mindsets, to understand the role they can play in making change happen.

Through social media, we will not reach only 30.000 young people in the world, we will be able to reach a much higher number of people from this generation, and only when this happen we are going to understand how powerful can be a generation like this.

Inês
Portugal

Storytelling is great way to prove to many people that changes are possible and that one person is available to start changes and make something good and positive in society or other people. In the same way inspiring, giving chance and example to other people how to do it.

In this period of economic crises and wars in Middle East unfortunately, in this way AIESECers and non-AIESECers who are aware of the option that young people can make a difference and start some changes is great initiative!

Creating network to make a impact!

I am Mo and I am an AIESECer.

Since 5 years ago, I have the best job in the world. I am working on a very exciting project; I am working on "MYSELF"; on how I can create a positive change in the work, and following the way in which we make change in AIESEC, it all starts from within.

For now, I can't measure in percentages, meters of depth the dimensions of this personal story of change. But I can feel it. I can feel it as my level of self awareness and self confidence grew, I can know it since my abilities of working in teams, with people, managing the energies of younsters around the world has improved. Form time to time my friends tell me: you've changed. I say I am a bit better. Bellow I post some thoughts that can show you the depth of emotions that I have experienced in the past 3 months in hte life changing place we call AIESEC:

"I begin to think that exchange experience must be similar, but more difficult and in that sense more transformative. The environment is different, that's for sure, but you don't get the chance to reset the system every week. At the end of the day, it is a battle of will, at the end of which you transform, by adapting to the other culture, for sure different. Your core stays the same, the emotions, affects, but the cultural pattern in which one is born is massively challenged. Ergo, this is where the personal transformation comes from."

From a road of transformative experiences, with Love!

I am colombian. Before I joned AIESEC I thought completely impossible for me to travel abroad, but it was one of my biggest dreams at that time. I had only the money necessary to pay my University studies and then looking for a job. My dream would have to wait a while, but it wasn't.

I joined in AIESEC in the middle of my studies in the University. I found in the organization a big fan of possibilities for me to develop my competencies and skills. I was in charge for the induction activities, also the logistical preparation and cultural involvement of the interns coming to Colombia. Couple of months after, I was managing all the processes of Selection, Induction, Training and Recognition of the members in the AIESEC office of my University. The level of involvement was that big that I became president of the AIESEC local chapter, at the same time I was defending my thesis and working part time.

Once I finished my studies, I was able to make my dream come true. I did my professional internship in Brazil for 5 months. Working with the homeless of Porto Alegre city, learning a new language and putting in practice my AIESEC experience and my professional knowledge.

Since then (in 2006), I have travelled to more than 15 countries thanks to AIESEC.. I can say I have friends from all the parts of the world, I have managed national, regional and global scope projects, I am making possible that more young people live this experience. Soon I will leave the organization, and I know exactly WHERE and HOW I want to be a changemaker, thanks to this transformative experience.
I think more people deserve to have the same opportunity...

My name is Marcio Soriano, I'm from Brazil and I'm an AIESEC'er.
I started studying English in Brazil in 1993 (when I was 10) and my teachers were really young people who went abroad through Exchange programs. I became passionate about their stories, their spirit and their "open mind". Since then, my dream was having the same experience, not just because of the language but for all those things I've listened from them: friends from all over the world, learning different cultures and becoming part of them.
I knew it would not be easy to make it. I had to wait for a while, but my dream was always in my mind: "I will live abroad, and will have this experience".
I kept moving on... Later on, in 2004, I got accepted into the Graphic Design school at the University.
During this period I realized my dream was getting closer to become real!
So, since the beginning of my studies, I've prepared to join AIESEC: improved English skills, worked in different companies to acquire a good professional background...
In 2007, I felt it was the time to give it a try. And it happened: I was selected to be an AIESEC Exchange Participant! In September of the same year, I arrived in Latvia, Eastern Europe, to work for an Advertising Company.
The "dream" became true. I found myself alone, in a different country, with a different language and culture, and many other different things. Tough times in the beginning, but after a while things got better. After 1 year making new friends from different countries, sharing an apartment with 2 other trainees (from Czech Repubic and Slovakia), working for an international company, I realized that MY DREAM REALLY BECAME TRUE!
I am a world citizen, and I have "brothers and sisters" from all over the world.
In a nut shell, AIESEC made my dream become true and, for sure, the dream of many other people in the world.

I have never found close to me any other organization, that could give me opportunity to live such a thorough, life changing experience as AIESEC.. I strongly believe, that if more and more young people from all over the world will have access to such incredible opportunities, we will observe wave of so much needed ethical leadership in lots places where its really needed..

I was recently summing up my 2008 and decided it definitely was one of best years in my life - most importantly i keep saying the same thing about each ending year for some time now.

To show, how much AIESEC opened me way to incredible opportunities, i compared my most memorable moments of 2003 & 2008

2003 : I live in Poland

- February : I studied for my exams (got really good grades)
- March - May : classes on university
- June - July : I studied for my exams (got really good grades again)
- August - hitch-hiking Poland - Spain - Poland
- October - university classes again
- November - I joined AIESEC. I attended 3 local & national conferences by end of December

2008 : I live in Netherlands

January : I co-organized one of global events of 60th Anniversary of AIESEC (150 guests, including top executives of largest global corporations)

February : I coordinated participation of guests in our Global Leaders Summit in Rep. of Macedonia. Guests included Global VPs / Regional Directors of largest corporartions. Moreover, i delivered few plenary sessions as part of agenda of Global Leaders Sumit (delegates : 230 young people, Presidents of national chapters of from 106 countries)

March : I was a trainer & coordinated events around regional conference of AIESEC in Middle East & North Africa in Tunisia (~200 delegates from countries from all over the region)

March : As Global Vice President Information Management elect of AIESEC, I went for 2 weeks business trip to India, to coordinate our negotiations & develop further cooperations with our IT vendor, Tata Communications Services.

and so on....

I was born in a small city in Poland, where you could never meet people from different places of the world and that looked "different". I grew up in this conviction that I'll spend the rest of my life in my hometown working as a school teacher. I didn't have bigger dreams than this... until I joined AIESEC. There I met people who were "reaching for the stars" - so open-minded, setting very high goals and believing that they can make a difference. In AIESEC I stopped being afraid of DREAMING BIG!! So far, in the age of 23, I've been to 17 countries and the places I thought I'll never see in real (and soon I'm going to Croatia for another internship). Now I have friends all over the world, starting from Canada and finishing on Australia. This is something I worked on during all of these 4 years of working in AIESEC - building a huge network of people that have similar passions, interests and people that want to make difference in their own life and the lives of others.

I'm used to say that AIESEC equals PEOPLE. Thanks to people I met in this organization, people that always believed in me, I raised above the stars and so far I've accomplished most of my dreams. Today, whenever I visit my parents in my hometown I think of how lucky I am and how my life has changed from the moment I joined AIESEC. Or I’m thinking… how my life would be like today without AIESEC. Probably I would be this teacher at my hometown, which is not bad at all. But I know it’s not the way I’d love to spend the rest of my life. In AIESEC I’ve learned how to live with passion, how to take responsibility for my life and make a difference, even with a simple smile. I've just learned that "if you can DREAM IT, you can DO IT!".

Hello everyone, my name is Stephanie and I am from Canada and I am an AIESECer. Throughout my time in AIESEC I have had the opportunity to live and work in Tanzania, Cameroon and in Belgium.

What I appreciate most about my experience in AIESEC was the opportunities that were open to me from the first day I joined. I was able to take advantage of these opportunities around the world and at the same time have a positive impact on the communities around me. As I have always been involved in the exchange program of AIESEC, I have had the opportunity to facilitate life changing international experiences for people all over the world. During this time I have been involved in many projects and other activities to develop myself, but the most rewarding thing for me has been seeing the impact of the work that we do in AIESEC on other people's lives.

Hi! I’m from Poland, I’m 24 and I’m an AIESECer too :)

AIESEC is all about experiences and thousands of powerful stories!

I joined AIESEC 4 years ago and I had that great opportunity to be involved in diverse activities with diverse people and in diverse places.
Last year for example together with 2 friends – Natalia and Wojtek - I was managing projects’ structure of 60 different local initiatives with local leads. Those projects were targeting key trends and issues important for our country – like entrepreneurship, society development, IT, education, CSR etc. Some of the projects were dealing with unemployment and poverty, some of them were supporting young students in setting up their own business, some of them were fostering understanding of sustainability and corporate responsibility among different target groups. Those were hundreds of small stories of change and changemakers!

For me personally in AIESEC thanks to different projects, conferences, meetings and engagement in international teams I have worked with people from all over the world getting to know their cultures, work styles and perspectives on different world issues.

Currently I’m working with a team of 22 extremely ambitious and bright changemakers from 16 different countries, everyday learning and experiencing what words like peace, tolerance, positive impact, cross-cultural understanding means.

Let’s hear more of those stories!

Some of the most remarkable moments I've had in AIESEC have been during my time working with AIESEC in the Middle East & North Africa. Each time I sit down with a member and hear the story of why AIESEC is relevant in their life, why they spend hours explaining to their family members why they want to be a part of AIESEC, or why they want to go on an internship to a society completely different than their own, I am inspired.

Stories inspire change.

When people see "ah, that person, who is similar to me, had an amazing experience", they too begin to understand how they can make the change as well.

Stories help our past to inspire the future.

AIESEC is about real experiences, about young people connecting around the world, about building community, about people realizing what they can do. These are experiences, that if shared, can change the world.

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Annika Rudback

I tell this story pretty often.

So I'm in a hole, waist deep in mud. I use a bucket to scoop the mud out of the hole and pass it up to a guy from Orland (that's in Norway), who then passes it to a guy from the Netherlands (an evangelist who I also share a room with), who throws it out and passes it back.

I was in Thailand, in 2005, doing Tsunami relief work in a small village called Thaptawan, where I was helping rebuild. The village, in a beautiful area in Southern Thailand and inhabited by Sea Gypsies, was on a peninsula, and when the Tsunami hit on boxing day, 2004, it was hit on three sides. 50% of the people in the village were killed.

I was digging the hole for a septic tank, built walls for kitchens and toilets, cemented floors and and more. My contribution was not great, but it was something.

The impact on me was something phenominal. In AIESEC terms, it helped me discover my potential - it was such a big experience, such a powerful one, I was exposed to so many strange and amazing situations that it could do nothing else but open me, empower me, challenge me in ways I could not have dreamed before.

Since then I have had other powerful experiences - being President of a local committee, an International MC term in the Czech Republic, all have been powerful. But none have been as transformatory as that first internship, in a little town in sun soaked southern Thailand.

Peter McDermott.

Cooking an Arabic meal in a Colombian kitchen was an experience that I will never forget in my life!

While I was cooking rice, Santiago would tell me that this is not the way to cook rice, there is just too much water in the pot and that I needed to remove some. Santiago then took a cup and wanted to remove some water, I quickly stopped him and we started talking about the different cooking styles we have in the Arabian Gulf compared to Colombia. At the back of my mind I thought, my meal is saved!

As the rice was almost ready to eat, the chicken smelled good enough after adding the necessary spices we were finally ready to serve the food that still needed to be transported to my friend's house where the dinner would take place in the basement. The basement was all of a sudden turned into a "majlis", the arabic word for a living room.

Our majlis had a long carpet on the floor, there were plates, cups and no other utensils then we had to use only our hands and sit on the ground to eat just like the people of my country do. Everyone started eating and I took a moment to put down my camera, I did not want this moment to be stored in my digital camera but in my heart then I was so impressed that in this majlis there are 30 people living the Bahraini culture in a Colombian city, what are the possibilities of such moments to occur again in a lifetime?

This is one of the most inspiring moments I have lived while I was doing my internship in the city of Manizales, Colombia. I am an AIESECer in Bahrain and it was always my dream to visit Latin America. On my way to Manizales, my heart pounded with excitement and on my way back it was full of impactful experiences!

Sarah Yousif/Bahrain