found out that ingrid's my junior! so amazing.. she's my secondary classmate and we've lost touch over the past few years and now we're in the same course! haha there are now 3 of us in the exact same studies in the same uni. :) we should all meet up someday.
feel the urge to read more, buy more books. somebody please sponsor cheryl's book fund. :) and buy more time for me.. i simply haven't got the time to read! (or is it all in the mind?)
anyway, some reflections i had while doing my report for post IC..
1) Learning Network Workshop that I attended (session description and comments)
HIV/AIDS – conducted by UNFPA: To understand the issue of HIV/AIDS and the stigma attached to it.
We were split into small groups and made to consider the impact youth can make on educating the public on HIV/AIDS. There was also an exercise on imagining we were on our way to have ourselves tested for HIV/AIDS and putting ourselves in the shoes of collecting the test results (having a sense of uncertainty and fear). The exercise enabled us to understand the feelings of the people who have gone for a testing, and how we might actually react in such a situation (would we tell others if we were tested positive? What would we do?) and to consider ourselves in a working environment where someone actually has HIV. The session made us more self-aware of this issue and made us realize we must approach people with HIV with more sensitivity and consideration.
There was a HIV-positive patient at the workshop and his personal story lent a touching tone to the workshop. His willingness and openness in sharing his story with us was moving and he explained to us his viewpoint, on how it is difficult for HIV patients to deal with the disease, their fear is not about dying, but with the loneliness that comes together with the disease since people avoid HIV patients. His view made me realize how important support is to them and how the misconception of the disease leads to stigma. That it takes a lot of courage for HIV patients to step out to tell the world they have this disease despite knowing the existence of stigma. (Courage- a leaf I could take out from his book) Along the way I understood a greater deal about HIV/AIDS and the disease, acquired more general knowledge :)
2) Partner Workshop that I attended (session description and comments)
InBev: the workshop explained to us the importance of career mapping and how to best utilize opportunities given to you. The facilitators conducted several tests that showed we had schemas which hindered our perceptions and highlighted the importance of being open to other possibilities and opening up our mindset, thereby allowing ourselves to explore new possibilities.
At the end of the workshop, I found myself getting a better understanding of how to equip myself with skills, how to map out a career and consider diversifying work experiences in order to improve myself in areas of managing people, assignment, commercial and expertise for career advancement. The session also gave insight into the way Human Resource in InBev works, and the insight helped me to understand their perspective of assisting their staff in terms of career choices.
3) The biggest impact for me at IC 2007 was…
Interacting with people.
The stories told by the Alumni. Hearing these stories highlighted that AIESEC, being global, is also affected by the world’s happenings and political situations and it was touching to listen to how they dealt with complicated situations. Indeed, the past influences the present and seeing them having contributed to AIESEC in the past (without internet) has led us in part to where we are now, which is inspirational.
External parties like my facilitator for Developing Leaders’ Day from Cadbury Schweppes, saying how she wished she had gotten to know about AIESEC in her university days and now finally understood the work AIESEC does during this IC and from her conversations with us. The AIESEC experience, she saw, is beneficial since we get exposed to the mechanisms and operations of an organization at the undergraduate level, which is extremely amazing- from her point of view. She encouraged us to continue this motivation and desire for excellence to improve ourselves, which is a valuable asset when we enter the workforce. Her sharing definitely motivated me, since she offers a professional external viewpoint of AIESEC.
Everyday, I had the chance to meet and interact with so many people. I listened to different perspectives, and people shared about their countries’ stories, eg: the Netherlanders talked about their admiration and love for their new Princess Maxima (who was Argentine and married the crown prince of Netherlands). Getting to hear this first-hand was definitely an entirely different experience, because you can really feel the admiration, than from reading it from a newspaper.
I finally understood the true meaning of youth-driven: the determination, passion, excitement and energy could be seen in everyone’s eyes, and radiating when you enter the room. In addition, everyone had the drive and desire to want to improve, to seek new solutions to bring back home to their LCs and countries.
Most importantly, these stories and workshops made me reflect and re-look at my own perspectives and think of ways on how I can improve myself in various areas (personality, managing a team, career options).
IC provided me the chance to see us all as citizens of the world, as one and beyond the numerous differences occurring in the world. Literally. :)
feel the urge to read more, buy more books. somebody please sponsor cheryl's book fund. :) and buy more time for me.. i simply haven't got the time to read! (or is it all in the mind?)
anyway, some reflections i had while doing my report for post IC..
1) Learning Network Workshop that I attended (session description and comments)
HIV/AIDS – conducted by UNFPA: To understand the issue of HIV/AIDS and the stigma attached to it.
We were split into small groups and made to consider the impact youth can make on educating the public on HIV/AIDS. There was also an exercise on imagining we were on our way to have ourselves tested for HIV/AIDS and putting ourselves in the shoes of collecting the test results (having a sense of uncertainty and fear). The exercise enabled us to understand the feelings of the people who have gone for a testing, and how we might actually react in such a situation (would we tell others if we were tested positive? What would we do?) and to consider ourselves in a working environment where someone actually has HIV. The session made us more self-aware of this issue and made us realize we must approach people with HIV with more sensitivity and consideration.
There was a HIV-positive patient at the workshop and his personal story lent a touching tone to the workshop. His willingness and openness in sharing his story with us was moving and he explained to us his viewpoint, on how it is difficult for HIV patients to deal with the disease, their fear is not about dying, but with the loneliness that comes together with the disease since people avoid HIV patients. His view made me realize how important support is to them and how the misconception of the disease leads to stigma. That it takes a lot of courage for HIV patients to step out to tell the world they have this disease despite knowing the existence of stigma. (Courage- a leaf I could take out from his book) Along the way I understood a greater deal about HIV/AIDS and the disease, acquired more general knowledge :)
2) Partner Workshop that I attended (session description and comments)
InBev: the workshop explained to us the importance of career mapping and how to best utilize opportunities given to you. The facilitators conducted several tests that showed we had schemas which hindered our perceptions and highlighted the importance of being open to other possibilities and opening up our mindset, thereby allowing ourselves to explore new possibilities.
At the end of the workshop, I found myself getting a better understanding of how to equip myself with skills, how to map out a career and consider diversifying work experiences in order to improve myself in areas of managing people, assignment, commercial and expertise for career advancement. The session also gave insight into the way Human Resource in InBev works, and the insight helped me to understand their perspective of assisting their staff in terms of career choices.
3) The biggest impact for me at IC 2007 was…
Interacting with people.
The stories told by the Alumni. Hearing these stories highlighted that AIESEC, being global, is also affected by the world’s happenings and political situations and it was touching to listen to how they dealt with complicated situations. Indeed, the past influences the present and seeing them having contributed to AIESEC in the past (without internet) has led us in part to where we are now, which is inspirational.
External parties like my facilitator for Developing Leaders’ Day from Cadbury Schweppes, saying how she wished she had gotten to know about AIESEC in her university days and now finally understood the work AIESEC does during this IC and from her conversations with us. The AIESEC experience, she saw, is beneficial since we get exposed to the mechanisms and operations of an organization at the undergraduate level, which is extremely amazing- from her point of view. She encouraged us to continue this motivation and desire for excellence to improve ourselves, which is a valuable asset when we enter the workforce. Her sharing definitely motivated me, since she offers a professional external viewpoint of AIESEC.
Everyday, I had the chance to meet and interact with so many people. I listened to different perspectives, and people shared about their countries’ stories, eg: the Netherlanders talked about their admiration and love for their new Princess Maxima (who was Argentine and married the crown prince of Netherlands). Getting to hear this first-hand was definitely an entirely different experience, because you can really feel the admiration, than from reading it from a newspaper.
I finally understood the true meaning of youth-driven: the determination, passion, excitement and energy could be seen in everyone’s eyes, and radiating when you enter the room. In addition, everyone had the drive and desire to want to improve, to seek new solutions to bring back home to their LCs and countries.
Most importantly, these stories and workshops made me reflect and re-look at my own perspectives and think of ways on how I can improve myself in various areas (personality, managing a team, career options).
IC provided me the chance to see us all as citizens of the world, as one and beyond the numerous differences occurring in the world. Literally. :)
