AIESEC Delhi University - Leadership Experience

Online, March 25, 2010 (Newswire.com) - From August 2008 to December 2009, I attended one national conference in AIESEC. I had had problems with parental permission, but I never really pushed for them either. By March 7th 2010, I finally realized exactly how much I had missed out on.

The Regional Leadership Development Seminar and National Trainers Conference, 5th to 7th March 2010, created history in AIESEC India in three ways. It was the first ever regional conference in the 29 year history of AIESEC in the country; it was the first conference for the February batch of recruits; and it was the first time two parallel conferences were run in the same venue at the same time. AIESEC Jaipur, hosting the conference, did a wonderful job with a beautiful venue, large rooms and good food.

All these factors are important in a conference, but they are all secondary to, and add up to, one seminal thing - the experience. Experiences are what shape us as people, and make us who we are. Experiences constitute our identity; they set us apart and make each one of us unique. The AIESEC experience can be the most powerful one of your life.

From attending three national conferences as a delegate, I went to being a facilitator in my fourth. A team of twenty diverse individuals from all over the country, we were building the experience of 250 delegates, fresh to AIESEC, bubbling with enthusiasm and yearning to learn more. We had many responsibilities, including conducting many of the sessions. Who knew that at 18 and 19, we could have the confidence to fearlessly address 250 people, some of them our own ages and older, and enjoy it? The knowledge that so many people are looking to you for guidance and direction, to be their mentors and leaders, is a rush of adrenaline I'll never forget.

Running a Fictitious Local Committee (FLC) was a more personalized and deeper connect with a small group of eleven people from different cities and backgrounds. Given barely one and half days, we learnt to like and trust each other, understanding ourselves better in the process. All expectations were defied, and perceptions broken. Creating our own culture, simulating the processes of an actual Local Chapter, and holding Fictitious Local Committee President elections was an immense learning experience for me, and judging by the response of my FLC, it was for them too. My group's President turned out to be a boy from my own Local Committee, AIESEC Delhi University. Finally finished with the election and announcement procedure, we headed to the plenary to meet the other 19 FLCs and their elected Presidents.

As we neared the plenary hall, we saw two or three announcements happening in the gardens around us. They were familiar faces, also from our Local Chapter. News came trickling to us, 7 FLCPs from DU, 10 FLCPs from DU. When we reached the plenary, 17 groups were already there and 13 of their Presidents were from DU. Two groups had still not reached, and we waited in eager anticipation. By the end, 20 Fictitious Local Committee Presidents stood before us and no less then 16 were from AIESEC Delhi University, the batch whose recruitment I had personally been in charge of. My pride in my LC knew no bounds that day, and all of us felt the same. 80% of the leaders of the new recruits in that plenary were from AIESEC DU. At a historic conference, AIESEC Delhi University had broken all records.

Trooping into the bus the next morning at 5 am, we were all exhausted since none of us had slept after winning the Best Delegation award. The energy level though, was miraculously high - people were still laughing, chatting, taking pictures and periodically bursting into the cheers and 'war cries' we call roll calls. It took some time for everyone to settle down, though they eventually did. I was sitting in the second seat from the front and I sat up and looked back. I saw 36 sleeping and 6 half-awake faces, heads drooping everywhere, mouths hanging open and limbs falling out of seats. This was the future of AIESEC Delhi University. I smiled. Yes, I had missed out on a lot of national conferences, but I knew at that moment that I would never let another opportunity pass me by. I was and I am proud to be an AIESECer.