what makes me keep going....

I received a letter today that made me realize that this is what I like doing and this is why all this is worth all the work....

"For those who don’t know me: I am Anke and a member of AIESEC Cologne since November 2007. As part of my personal AIESEC Experience this year I felt ready to go for eXchange.

My original plan was to do a management traineeship, but destiny (or Markus aka VP OGX) had other plans. AIESEC Cluj in Romania was looking for trainees for the third edition of their project called “World Citizenship (WC)”. Due to the great enthusiasm of three people, namely Markus, Melanie (VP ER who has done this traineeship in 2008) and Oana (OCP World Citizenship) I was more than happy to accept the traineeship offer.

From the moment I left the plane in Romania the people from LC Cluj were taking care of me and making sure that my experience would be more than great. They organized several social events or we just hung out, so that I really had the chance to learn a lot about Romanian culture, have fun and make friends.

The idea of World Citizenship is to bring trainees from all over the world to Romania to educate High School pupils in topics such as cultural understanding, team work, communication skills etc. as well as marketing and corporate social responsibility. Two trainees from Poland, one from Japan, another one from Kazakhstan and I formed a team and we prepared the training sessions together and delivered them in different High Schools. The project lasted 6 weeks and each week we were teaching two different topics. Most of the pupils were very curious and interested and enjoyed getting to know people from other countries. The project finished with a big Global Village where pupils from all the participating High Schools came together.

I guess the most challenging part for me was to work in an international team where each trainee had different motivations, goals and experience. Still, we managed these challenges, became friends and spent a great time together.

Participating in 2 AIESEC conferences additionally enriched my traineeship experience. AIESEC Romania is truly special and if you are a passionate AIESECer you should not miss this spirit and go to a conference there.

I returned to Germany with a backpack full of unforgettable memories, experiences, new friends, inspiring conversations, ideas, impressions…

I am very thankful for my experience and therefore I promised to LC Cluj that I will do my very best to influence someone from LC Cologne to come to Cluj in 2010. Maybe it will be you?!"

This person has became one of my best friends, and I am very happy to have met her....
Thanks Anke, and see you soon!!