As you’ll see below, AIESEC provides many students the platform to discover and develop their leadership potential. AIESEC is completely powered by students who volunteer their time. Its Global Internship Program allows students to acquire international work experience.
If you’ve ever been interested in becoming part of an organization that can help you build practical skills and can connect you with like-minded students, joining the SFU local committee of AIESEC might be for you. Read on to learn more about the experiences of two of its most inspiring members!
Iris Eom is currently doing double duty for AIESEC SFU. In addition to her role as a Project Manager for Outgoing Exchange, she is also part of the Communications portfolio serving as Director of Information Systems. One unique thing about Iris is that she’s actually already been on an AIESEC internship. On May 2009, she went to Malaysia for two months as an Exchange participant for the Miracle Project.
Iris has been very involved volunteering around campus. In addition to her involvement with AIESEC SFU, she has volunteered for the SFU Peer Programs, SFU International Mentorship Program, SFU Student Development , LEAD SFU – Certificate in Innovative Leadership, and ChicTech. Given Iris’s impressive and wide range of accomplishments, I was curious how she originally got started with AIESEC and how the organization is different from other SFU student bodies.
I got to know about AIESEC back in early 2009 when I was researching volunteering opportunities abroad. My friend in AIESEC Edmonton introduced me to AIESEC’s global internship program and convinced me to join and eventually go on the internship.
The best thing about AIESEC is that it is an international organization (in fact the largest student-run), and there are many opportunities to expand your network. Not only you get to interact with fellow SFU students, you can meet and become friends with students from other universities in Canada and even in other countries. This possibility of expanding your network on a global scale is a rare opportunity!
I would say my AIESEC internship in Malaysia has been the best and the most memorable experience. I’ve become good friends with many of the people I met during the internship and we’re still in touch with one another.
I worked at a local high school with two other interns (one from the Netherlands and one from India) for about two weeks. We were big celebrities at the school. Most of them have never met anyone from other countries and were very curious about everything. We were invited to different classes to talk about…just anything!
In one class, the students asked their teacher to finish the class early so we could come in and talk. We had many interesting sessions with the students – teaching languages, singing national anthems, sharing cultures and so on. On our last day, some students organized a surprise farewell party for us and I almost cried!
Colleen Wong is the passionate president of AIESEC SFU. Prior to this role, Colleen also served as Vice President of Talent Management, the team responsible for attracting new recruits in the organization.
She took some time from her busy schedule to talk about her AIESEC experience so far.
I saw how a friend of mine was able to gain valuable skills and experiences through AIESEC SFU. I wanted to have accomplishments to call my own as well!
Taking on a leadership role as a vice president has been my most memorable experience so far. It has really boosted up my confidence, and I wish I jumped into a leadership role sooner.
I knew how much AIESEC has given me and how I feel head over heels in love with it. I just want everyone else to gain from AIESEC what I have so far and fall in love with the organization as well.
Don’t wait! I joined AIESEC in my 3rd year and I wish I joined sooner.
Different teams in AIESEC SFU are now busy planning for the Fall 2010 recruitment season. Make sure you visit the AIESEC SFU table in the next Clubs Days! In the meantime, you can learn more about becoming a member by visiting the official website.
If you’re into social media, you can follow AIESEC SFU by visiting http://www.flavors.me/aiesecsfu. You can also check out the newly-revamped AIESEC SFU blog.
