Full Circle

On the night of December 29, 2008, I was in a Zen state.

My former teammate and one of the greatest people I have been blessed to know, Tiffany Curtiss, was elected Member Committee President of AIESEC United States in the first free and fair MCP elections in twelve years.

I haven't cried in a long time, but I came pretty damn close as Missy poured the water on her head and everyone cheered for Tiffany. What was clear to me, though, is that as much as we were cheering for her, we were cheering for the process, for student ownership, for having a voice. For having come so far just shy of six months after the July 4 letter.

The only thought that had space in my head after the bucket fell was back to the weekend of May 12-14, 2006, when I was told "you have no future in AIESEC US" by the top leadership after trying to bring people together and think for themselves. Instead of doing whatever college students do on the weekend, Tiffany and my AIESEC mentor and former LCP of AIESEC LC Cornell, Arthur Maas, spent the entire weekend on the phone with the key players in New York, and when they were talking about "next steps," Tiffany was talking about right and wrong. Tiffany, of course, was right, and despite being right, her hours and hours on the phone that weekend got me back into AIESEC US. How incredibly appropriate, how it fits in with the music of the Universe. How justice was served and how progress was lifted up!

I turned off my video camera and I walked up to my room, alone. I could barely even shut the door before the immensity of what had just happened washed over me like a tidal wave. I gripped the table and I put my head against the wall. I closed my eyes and let the reality of it flow through every bit of my being. How years and even months ago, this moment was an unthinkable fairy tale - regardless of the winner of the election. I felt like I have not felt in an incredibly long time, and to the powers that put the breath in my lungs, I let forth in an exhale, "thank you."

Words cannot express the pride I feel that Tiffany was elected MCP.

And finally, mere hours before my term as LCP ended, I was able to participate as a proxy for Milwaukee (Amira taking the seat for GT) in our legislation, where we established our first compendium in twelve years - and I am proud that I was a key part of writing it. I skipped sessions and I stayed up late to work on the constitution and accountability with Jason, and I personally spent the entire day after the election tweaking and perfecting the range voting process, which was one of the final motions we passed - by acclamation. Though it was hard work and it kept me from hanging out nearly as much as I wanted to with the people who matter to me and friends I haven't met yet, I realized at the end of the conference how much more valuable it was that we spent our time on things that mattered. We did work together, we built the foundations of a new AIESEC US together. That was far better than anything else I've experienced at a US conference before, and I hope for the future members that it only grows and does not stop.

While banging the table to close legislation, we heard loud sounds from above - and through the skylights we saw the fireworks heralding a new year. We did it! And the fireworks let everyone know it.

Poetry upon poetry, the formal New Years Eve dinner that night took place in the exact same room as the plenary of the last Winter Conference in St. Louis. My LCP term ended in the exact same room in which it began. A year ago in that room, as we finished singing "Auld Lang Syne," I thought to myself: "This is either the year AIESEC US will save itself, or the year in which it will be lost forever."

I could never have pictured us in that same room one year later, triumphant. The truth is stranger than fiction.

A sincere thanks to all of the people who are a part of the fabric that has been my AIESEC Experience thus far. There are many of you to name, and rest assured you will hear it from me soon. But other than Tiffany, the person I must thank most of all is Missy Shields, outgoing MCP and former LCP of AIESEC at Georgia Tech. Without her AIESEC US would not be here today, and I would not be the person I am, plain and simple. She deserves adulation for years and years, and she will be a golden legend for as long as the word "AIESEC" spurs the heartbeats of people looking for a better future.

To you both: because you have changed me, you have changed the world. Hold me to that.

The Chinese Olympiad

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.






My obsession with jump shots couldn't help but exert itself over me, so I decided to at least look goofy in an Olympics way. I think everything else speaks for itself, though.


There seems to be quite the storm of activity brewing back in the States, specifically in Madison. I know I'm riveted over here in the Orient. Let's see where this takes us!

@Masr yoheb @GT.

Dear AIESECers of GT,

I have signed many emails and conversations to you as "Love from Egypt". And, although I love you incredibly, I wanted to explain to you that that love is by no means limited to me. AIESEC in Egypt loves you, too. From the exposure of our members through MENALDS in Morocco and MENAXLDS in Tunisia, to meeting up with Egyptians around the world (especially Mohammed and Ma'andi in our own city) - AIESECers who hail from Atlanta are loved over here.
I just returned (literally JUST walked in to my room and fired up my computer to chat with you all) from National Planning Meeting and National Interns Gathering 2008, a simultaneous conference for the leadership of AIESEC Egypt to plan their national and local directions with the brand new EB teams, both on the LC and MC levels, as well as interns from around the country (and around the world for that matter) to meet and develop themselves and their traineeship experience by increasing their position in the global network.
I was a Faci for the intern's track - and I can't tell you how many people either knew a member of AIESEC at GT or of our LC (very often through Bebot - which we danced anytime the music came on), and how much it meant to me that I could talk endlessly about how proud I am to be an AIESECer from GT. So continue to be the incredible organization that you are, the incredible people you contain, dear @GT.
You're kind of a big deal out here, people know you.

Love from Egypt,

Maddie

Quebec, nous t'aimons

These past couple of weeks, AIESEC Atlanta members were flung across the globe to attend the numerous international conferences that AIESEC International holds each year. Germany, Tunisia, Russia, and Japan each saw the smiling faces of eager, exuberant Americans from the Peach State.

However, a few of us thought, "Why should we need a conference to justify visiting another MC, LC, or interesting destination? Why can't we just go?"

And so we went.



Thomas, Ryan, Masato, and I met up with Shannon Guy (of former LCP fame) from AIESEC Yale and headed for an atypical Spring Break destination, Canada. Montreal, Quebec, to be specific.

What began as a simple trip into a city evolved and shifted into a week-long love affair with the local committees nestled in the heart of this francophone metropolis. We were welcomed with unparalleled enthusiasm and warmth by the LCs of the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) and Hautes Etudes Commerciales Montreal (HEC). They accepted us into their offices, their events, and their social circles without hesitation and thoroughly immersed us in the Montreal experience. And even though we struggled with our French, it was easy to see that no language barriers could overpower the strength of the AIESEC network to create friendships. AIESEC Montreal is truly a force to be reckoned with.



We came, we saw, we conquered. An indelible mark was left on our hearts, even for those of us who are seasoned visitors of our neighbor to the north. I know I speak for all five of us when I say that we will remember this experience for years to come.

And to you Canadians: may we meet again at NLDC in May at Toronto!

Go big or go abroad.

Traineeship Rocketship: (n) [trey-nee-ship rok-it-ship]
Origin: AIESEC, Madisonian

(1) The act of taking that immense step off the AIESEC platform and into another country, experiencing life in another culture, meeting incredible life-changing people, and discovering and developing yourself to become a change-agent with a positive impact on society.
(2) The act of going big and going abroad.
(3) How to become an AIESEC Rockstar.

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.

Daily Paradigm Shift

I respect, more than anything, the willingness of others to change. I revere individuals that embrace this phenomenon, the people that leap into change head first, not solely accepting changes that happen upon them, but their entire ambition is to constantly change and grow while supporting, pushing, encourage others to experience the same impact.
From reading about a revolution in perspective, to discussions with my role models about their direction in life, from gentle pushes from across the ocean to examine how to improve myself to improve others, to a hero of mine sincerely forcing me to look into the direction of my own - it constantly pushes me to change myself, my perceptions, and to focus my direction. To discover my purpose.
I am consistently impressed that AIESEC has placed these incredible people in my life. That their experiences in this organization has shaped them in away that they have been able to shape me, that their changes in perception of individuals, of cultures, of growth and the globe have so significantly changed my own. That taking on these challenges, whether it is a traineeship, an international conference, or leading other such amazing individuals, do not accept that they have overcome these challenges, but are constantly looking for new ones.
It is amazing that the slightness of one action impacts so many others. That missing a bus my freshman year allowed me to read a flyer advertising AIESEC, that one night of hunger turned into a dinner that cemented my personal connection to some other AIESECers that have been some of my closest friends, that one delayed plane caused me to have some of the most constructive and inspiring conversations of my life. That allowing myself to be dragged to one information session a year and a half ago could give me so many of the opportunities that AIESEC has.

Preston, our fearless leader, told me this, in a dead-tired, half-aware state on the plane somewhere over the Appalachian Mountains - there is a reason that change is in the word exchange. Because exchange may be the medium of AIESEC, but change is what we do.