family.

There is something about our LC. Something amazing. It was something that I was introduced to over a year ago, when I joined AIESEC at Georgia Tech. And through the past few weeks I have experienced this first hand, and it is how much like a family this LC is.

As many of you know, and those of you that don't, I have been facing a major illness these past few weeks. It has been utterly debilitating, terrifying, and painful. But it is beyond overwhelming the support I have received from so many members of this LC, even braving the yellow gowns and rubber gloves of the Infectious Disease Department at Crawford Long Hospital.
And it was my work preparing for our long awaited, much anticipated, very exciting 2007 Year End Banquet tomorrow, that got me thinking that the support of the LC has been with me from the first day I joined. From (gentle) pushing to develop myself and take on responsibility to having a bunch of friends to hang out on Friday nights - these amazing people have been there for me. Like a family. We bicker, we find endless frustrations in each other, and we spend so much time working together that we forget about why we started in the first place. But that, I think, defines so many families. And there is so much there beyond that, and it took me preparing to pass on the torch to really remember it. And as I have been constantly reminded that I may be on my way out, I don't ever want that feeling of support and camaraderie that I have come to know and love in the past year to disappear.

It is here that I post my challenge for 2008. Let's have our family grow beyond borders and boundaries. Let's have our family take on new and exciting challenges. Let's have our family inspire others, challenge perceptions, and immerse ourselves in this amazing organization called AIESEC.

Bring it on, 2008.

love,
Maddie.