Built. Maintained. Elevated, again.

Congratulations Tiffany! AIESEC US MCP 2009-2010!

AIESEC GT, epic win. Let the Revolution begin!

aiesec...the biggest family in the world :)

óla @gt!

sorry i haven´t posted until now, but just wanted to drop a quick line to say hey and tell you guys about something i´ve noticed here that makes me miss you guys so much yet feel like you´re right here with me :D for those of you who don´t know me, my name is johanna (or tater tot as some call me) and i´m currently into my 3rd month of my traineeship in salvador, brazil. check out my blog if you want to learn more about my experience here so far, but today i wanted to talk about something a little different.

i hang out with brazilians a lot here, but because this is aiesec, there are always people from all over the world around too, which is awesome :) right now we´ve got reps from canada, colombia, ecuador, norway, england, and the u.s. (that would be me, ha ha). some of my fondest memories in @gt (and i´m sure many that i´ll make in this next year) involve getting together with aiesecers to check out new foods, celebrations, movies, dances, etc. from other cultures...it´s a great way to explore the world from your own backyard, and you´d be amazed at how much you can learn and experience (check out the holi post on this blog for a great example). i´ve always loved that about our lc at gt, and i´ve missed you guys like crazy, but have been soooooo happy to find here that the lc here is the same way! just goes to show how alike we all are, right?

this past sunday was colombian independence day, and with the help of our 2 colombian trainees and their other colombian friends here, this past weekend was a celebration to remember. the picture below was taken at a colombian independence day party organized by colombian ex-pats living in salvador. note that in this picture only 2 of the people are colombian, yet all are aiesecers - and that, my beloved lc, is what makes us the biggest family in the world :D

beijos do brasil!

So what is SoCo without a little GT?

We came, we saw, we conquered.
Way to build and maintain, ladies and gentlemen - let's take it to the next level.

Shanky, we miss you already...

How much?

This much:

the Family, growing.

Last year, I challenged our family to grow beyond borders, boundaries, take on new, exciting challenges, to inspire, to challenge, to change, and to grow as AIESEC in Atlanta.

We have brought in an incredible group of new members from all over Atlanta. We have grown, to China, to Kenya, to Kazakhstan. Projects challenging US immigration, the crisis in Darfur, developing our members and students personally and professionally - they are all in the works. We have inspired discussions about the world - from Kosovo to Pakistan. We have experienced incredible changes and challenges, and leaped head-first from that platform. Even now, we are preparing for an incredible RoKS, working towards increasing exchange, and readying ourselves to meet with our incredible Board of Advisors this week.

I am so proud of our LC, our little family. But we must not limit ourselves. Yes, we are achieving. Let's begin to excel, to soar. We are an amazing group of people. There is always a voice in the background calling us to our senses, away from resting on our laurels. Usually that voice belongs to Arcadiy, paired with some witty, humorous remark.
Arcadiy - good luck. We miss you already. Live the dream, and bring it back to all of us. We love you.

Welcome Xiao...building bridges (and tables)

Yo, yo...yo,yo, yo, Xiao!
Welcome to Atlanta where the Aiesecers play
And we create them exchanges like everyday
Big beats, hit streets, see Aiesecers roamin'
And parties dont stop til' eight in the mornin'

We finally got a chance to meet with our newest trainee in Atlanta, Xiao, from Beijing! She's currently working at Deloitte up around the Perimeter and she finally had some free time to meet and become a part of our AIESEC family.

We had an amazing pot luck dinner in the newest AIESEC house and I'd like to thank everyone for making it an incredible night (and delicious dinner) .

More than anything else, I'd like to thank y'all for making Xiao feel at home with our little family, and showing her the meaning of AIESEC love, southern comfort style. Stay tuned for an update for a "local's tour" with Xiao, and really showing how we do it in the ATL.

ps -many thanks to Kyle for building a dinner table for many more dinners to come...

Amanda-Panda

Shout out to my habibti, Amanda Browne from AIESEC DC, for gracing us with her gorgeous presence this past weekend. Atlanta was explored, parties threw down, booties were shaken, and the best ribs in Atlanta were discovered. Amanda, welcome to our little family and best of luck in Tunisia.

AIESECers, come visit. Atlanta loves company. AIESEC at Georgia Tech loves you.


love, and AIESEC.
Maddie

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.