November 2010

The AIESEC Experience

– Heidi Clee

AIESEC is a student-run organization which has helped people of all ages and nationalities come together all around the world. The first official AIESEC was established in 1949 and today, 61 years later, AIESEC can be found in over 107 countries. In Finland alone, AIESEC exists 20 universities and seven cities including Turku, Oulu, Lappeenranta, Tampere, Jyväskylä and Helsinki.

AIESEC Jyväskylä is located on the University campus Mattilanniemi where it is situated by the glistening lake of Jyväsjärvi. To find out more of what AIESEC is, I've sent a survey to members of AIESEC Jyväskylä asking them why they joined AIESEC and what has the experience given them so far.

Most of the replies came from people who had joined AIESEC Jyväskylä and had come from as far as Ukraine. Everybody has had good experiences since joining the organization and have been happy that they have made new acquaintances.

Why did you join/what made you join AIESEC?

Many of the students had heard that it is a place to make new friends which was very much hoped for as they were new in Jyväskylä and didn't know many people. Another great reason for joining AIESEC proved to be the Work Abroad program which the organization offers. Many ”laughed” though, as they still haven't necessary been abroad because they learned that AIESEC had so much more to offer.

Other reasons for joining were the chance to get leadership skills, get hands-on work experience, and practice English and other language skills and meet a variety of people from across faculties and nationalities.

What has AIESEC done for you?

Everybody got many new practical skills, and new perspectives, a lot of work experience, more self-confidence, made a lot of new friends and met many interesting people as well as learned to handle multiple tasks and prioritize, learned by doing and got better at presenting and better at English.

Others went so far as to thank AIESEC for all the new things they have got. The only cons seemed to come from getting too involved with the organization's activities and explaining why it is so fascinating to do volunteer work in AIESEC.

”AIESEC has also given me confidence in myself and the things I do.”

”I have got soo much that is hard to put in a few sentences. As a LCP (Local Committee President) of AIESEC Jyväskylä I learned how to lead a team that consisted of very different personalities and how we can actually benefit from these differences. ”

”I have learnt numerous new skills, learnt a LOT about myself, and AIESEC has given me a direction in life and given me more friends than I care to count.”

”AIESEC taught me that I can do things, one doesn't need to be an expert of something before being able to do it. Learning by doing. Sharing is important as well. I've also become more self-confident.”

”I got a lot of new friends, met a lot of really interesting people. Now I have friends almost in every big city of Finland. Isn't it cool? Also my English is better now. :) So I am completely satisfied. Kiitos, AIESEC!!!”

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A big thanks to everyone who participated in the survey and made this article possible!