no-mad?

I'm wondering if I'm no longer a nomad in spirit.

On a related note, I'm also seriously considering getting rid of my blog.

do what scares you

For the past few years, I have routinely opted for the next big thing that scares me because I believe that is the best way to grow as a person.

Now, I am very aware of the many, many things that no longer scare me. I know exactly what they are.... travelling alone, speaking in front of hundreds of people on the fly, committing to big things, meeting with important people in important companies, selling things to people, starting over in new places on my own, having a load of responsibility...

I am also very clear on what I do not want to do after my term is over in July. I do not want to do sales or marketing for a company about which I have lukewarm feelings. I do not want to keep giving up a life I created somewhere just to start over somewhere else. I do not want to continue working for AIESEC (it's just time to move on...).

But what scares me now? What do I want to do next? If I choose to do something that doesn't scare me, is the opportunity for growth still there? What if it isn't? Could I pick something else?

Every choice closes doors. What I'm really scared of is some of those doors closing forever.

[God, I'm so cliche.]

wishing...

...that a month wasn't as long as it seems, but that four lasted a lifetime.

...that I could watch CNN obsessively all day long today instead of staying up past 1 AM GMT when the polls start to close and watching the results come in on the BBC in a cabin on a farm in Wales.

...that my team was more prepared for the biggest AIESEC UK national conference EVER this weekend.

...that my future was a whole lot less ambiguous.

...that I actually had time to call my family.

...that my first bonfire night in the UK was more traditional, but at least I'm spending it with people that I love.

experience

I am so lucky to have someone that inspires me to do my job better than I could have done yesterday. Listening to the possibilities allows me to paint pictures in my mind that build on your words to make them my own.

money money money

I have invoiced for £10,000 so far in my term. That's $16,278 for all you Yanks. That is so cool. :D

Also, I voted yesterday!

RIMT 2008

At the venue, a youth hostel in a small town filled with old people a hellish, nauseating, winding two-hour bus trip from Coimbra, a few hours before opening plenary, I was expecting the conference team to be freaking out, especially because quite a few sessions were't started, many weren't done and they didn't even know how many delegates were arriving and if they would all be there in time. My team was calm, chill and joking around over lunch like it was three days before and we hadn't yet arrived at the venue.... I was a little weirded out, but I decided to go with the flow. If they weren't worried, and we all knew the expectations, then why should I be concerned? I was able to come into this already assembled team that had been working together for a while and feel like I was part of it in a day, so why shouldn't I trust them? This is their conference, after all.


It proved to be a wise choice... and I've adoped the "things will happen when they're supposed to happen" mantra for the conference. What an amazing break this is from my crazy life in London. I needed this so badly. Of course, it is still my job to keep them on schedule, so I am telling the facis they have 10 minutes left when they really have 15 and I'm allocating an hour for morning plenary, because I know it will take no more than a half hour, but I also know that most delegates will be a half hour late.







The conference team is amazing! Most of them were up until the early hours of the morning, dressed in retro gear, and are now napping on the couches in the lobby during a session being given by an alum. This conference has given me a renewed idea of what AIESEC is and why I joined in the first place... one month ago, I had no idea that I would be in Portugal chairing my first conference... and now I know I couldn't have missed this for the world.


I wish I had more time to spend with the Coimbra NEFE LC... but I leave tomorrow afternoon and a crazy week of traveling to four new cities in the UK plus catching up on my work from last week awaits me.

a challenge

Accepting the invitation to chair a conference is the equivalent of begging another AIESEC country with which you have no experience to give you as much work as possible. On top of that, you are choosing to spend your weekend working to understand not only the AIESEC principles and identity of a new country, but also a language, culture and people that are different from what you know. You are entrusted with the growth and development of however many members at some stage of the AIESEC experience (in this case, 100 newbies, members of the LC EB and Exchange Participants). And you get almost no preparation.


You have to be the motivator and the negotiator. You have to be the peacemaker and the challenger. You have to be all things to all people at all times, and there is nobody structurally above you at the conference, so if you're going to bitch up, there's nobody there.


I need to provide the link between all the sessions, the theme that strings them all together. I need to enable the conference team to develop themselves, while ensuring that they are developing the delegates.

I am just now realising how big a job this is... but I'm loving it so far!

[We're going to the venue tomorrow and won't have internet access for the rest of the weekend, so I'll blog again on Monday when I'm back to London.]