March 1, 2010

This day brings with it the end of an era – it is the official end of my AIESEC career at AIESEC Victoria.  Each term as a VP starts on March 1 and ends on February 28.  This past weekend, the incoming and outgoing teams of AIESEC Victoria planned for the future and came up with a year plan, strategic actions and budgeted to make it happen.  It was so inspirational sitting and discussing our successes in the past year and how the new team can build upon these successes and learn from our mistakes to have a great year for themselves.  I’m excited for the future of AIESEC Victoria.  I have full confidence in this new team.

March 1st brings with it bittersweet memories.  Sweet and sour someone said this weekend.  On the one hand, I’m going to be relieved – no more responsibility and I’m excited to head off into the future and explore new opportunities.  On the other hand, I’m terrified of leaving.  AIESEC was comfortable.  It was (somewhat) predictable.  I have made some amazing friends through the organization here in Victoria and across Canada.  I leave AIESEC with so many fond memories and so so so many accomplishments.

I guess my AIESEC career isn’t completely over yet.  There is still that option of going on an internship.  I only just found a replacement for me so there is still turnover and training over the next month.  Career Fair is happening March 9 – 10 and I’m volunteering.  Then there is Coastal Conference March 26 – 28 in Vancouver where I’ll be facilitating.  So for the next month or so things will be the same, but once April hits, I’ll be back at home – no school, no job, no AIESEC.  Wow things are going to be changing.  I’m excited to get out there and yet I can’t but help look back at the end of this chapter of my life.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on everything that I have accomplished through AIESEC, and I really can’t help but feel that without AIESEC in my life, I probably wouldn’t be who I am today.  I have learned so much about myself and it was really AIESEC that gave me all these opportunities:

• I learned how sales really works and helped work towards raising internships with companies in Victoria.  I also found out that while I could do the work, sales isn’t where I get the most enjoyment.
• I learned that there really is more to human resources than just hiring and firing people.  I gained an appreciation for the different areas of HR and that to make an employer a good employer doesn’t just mean having good HR practices.  It means having everyone in the organization have HR in their minds when making decisions.  I also learned that I really like HR.  I like the interaction and I like making a difference in another person’s life.
• I learned how to work in a team that may be less than functional.  I learned how to work with different personalities.  I learned how to motivate others on my team and how to keep things moving when things got difficult.
• I learned that I will most likely not be going into a career of finance.  While I appreciate all the work they go through, I don’t see myself sitting at a desk and working with numbers day in and day out.  Despite that, I learned how to budget.  I learned how to pay an employee and taxes to the government.  I learned how to write grant requests.  I learned how to report numbers, but most of all I learned how a small business operates financially and I can utilize these skills wherever my career takes me.
• I learned that I love working on events.  I love the satisfaction of finishing a project, giving all that you can give and seeing success and happiness in those that you affect.  I discovered that I enjoy the logistical aspects of organizing something.  I also discovered that I really enjoyed the promotional side of things from website building to video making – and area I’m looking forward to exploring more.
• I met so many people in Victoria, across Canada and around the world that have changed my outlook on life and on the world.  AIESEC has given me the ability to appreciate and learn about the world on a different level.
• … and this is only the beginning – there are so many other things I learned from AIESEC that I can’t even begin to list them all.

The AIESEC logo has words running underneath that read “the international platform that enables young people to explore and develop their leadership potential for them to have a positive impact on society.”  For the longest time these were just words to me, but now looking back at all my AIESEC successes (and with them, some failures), I really have been given the opportunity to explore and develop my leadership.  I learned more about myself and about my strengths and weaknesses.  Now, as I enter the workforce, I look forward to living up to the second half of the sentence – to have a positive impact on society.

Thanks AIESEC – you’ve really changed my life.