(500) Starry Nights Of Winter ★: You Know Never in My Life Have I Been Able to Smile So Much

This has been an insanely delayed post. All this while I've always wanted to blog about this but I always procrastinate and end up never bother trying to blog this. So before I procrastinate further I will blog this before I procrastinate again. This is a post describing my AIESEC journey. From the point I joined and until the point I retired as the VP of Incoming Global Community Development Program. Basically this is a post on my AIESEC journey.

To those who are unfamiliar with what is AIESEC, AIESEC is the world largest youth run organization which focuses on experiential leadership development. It's an international organization present in over 100 countries all over the world and it is run by youths. To be honest this was not the reason I joined AIESEC.

When I first entered UMP I felt out of place because my mandarin is so impaired, I think I can only communicate to kindergartners. I find difficulty talking to everyone because I can only speak English. I was lucky enough to have my batch mates speak to me in English so I am still not lost in translation. My campus is in Pekan so there weren't as much events as there are in Gambang. I was bored out of my wits and starting to feel disconnected from the world in Pekan.

Pekan may not have much but the weather is so surreal sometimes

That is when I first discovered AIESEC. 2 years may not seem like a long time but when I first heard of AIESEC in UMP two years ago I was not entirely convinced on this organization's potential. It was very messy and disorganized due to the lack of members. I didn't know anything about AIESEC but yet I gave it a try and join because it uses English as a medium of communication. There was an interview session and all but after going through the interview things quiet down for a bit. The next thing I got involved in AIESEC was the national conference which is Malaysia Leadership Development Seminar which is held in UM.

The conference is somewhat what I expect of when I entered university life. A global learning platform, leadership programs, fun and open mindedness. I begin to feel more interested in AIESEC but again AIESEC in UMP was very small still two years ago and not much focus was laid on Pekan.

After the conference ended, things slowed down again and there weren't much activities. The next major event I attended was the President elections.

The elections made me realize I want to contribute back to AIESEC. I learned how dire is the status of AIESEC in UMP. If it continue this way it might be disbanded. I don't want AIESEC to disappear from UMP so me, Aaron and Eng Heng decided to run for Vice Presidents.We ran for different posts with minimal knowledge of what AIESEC is all about. Heck I even presented my ideas with the wrong understanding of the post I applied for. After the interviews, the 3 of us was like.... what did we just did. Oh god we are going to fail.

But then this happened

In AIESEC, whenever someone passes the Vote of Confidence they get drenched in a bucket of water. I just realized we started the Ice Bucket challenge before it became a trend lolol. Despite not knowing anything, we went full YOLO mode and ran for the elections. Sometimes you don't need to know everything. All you need was a bucket load of courage and the willingness to try and step off your comfort zone. First lesson learned from AIESEC, if there is something you want to achieve of dream of, just be brave enough to take the first huge step. Trying is always better than not doing anything at all.

And so the VP journey begins!

But before that let's take a sel... I mean an organizing committee post.

Before we officially start life as a VP we become part of the Organizing Committee of one of Youth to Market Reality. Youth to Market Reality was one of the highlights of AIESEC in UMP term 2012/2013

Youth to Market Reality is a seminar which exposes the students of UMP to life after graduation. Basically this talk aims to prepare the students to enter the real world and be able to market themselves well.

And so we began the term 2013/2014 in July and the VP journey begins

At Genting!

So yay we being our term officially as part of the Executive Board by preparing for National Convention which will be held in UTM. Since all of us are from ALL over Malaysia we all met up and prep in Genting. We bonded and we head to Natcon not as a team but as a family

A welcoming sight indeed when I check in to my room in UTM

And there is a red light. I swear to god the smile looks wider every morning when I wake up. Okay maybe I'm being way to dramatic

Meet my boss Shi Ying! She might be one of the smallest and cutest girl you will ever meet but she is one feisty bunny and I am so thankful to have her teaching me so many things.

Below is random photos collected throughout the term

Okay I will be honest and say I got tired of writing so much words so I shall spam this post woth photos to make things more interesting lolol

AIESEC Night where we introduce what is AIESEC to the unsuspecting people.

AIESEC provide the chance to meet people from all over the world. Her name is Miriam and she was the Chair for the Local Lead the Trainers conference.

Everyone went back during the Haji holidays so I climbed up a water tank

Worried I might be depressed the team kidnap me to Gambang and have steamboat

L.E.A.D Conference before Mid National Convention which is held in KL

Rainbowwwww

The award night during Mid National Conference

In which I was the grand prize LOL

Well actually it was this diamond

We joined MyLDS and now it is our turn to guide the new batch of AIESECers to prep for MyLDS 2014

One of the proudest moment of my AIESEC journey. My very first exchange participant for the local project Renaissance.

I should have considered the weather when I planned for my project

My 3 Exchange participants for Renaissance. Osama, Buddhi and Faizan

Thank you for giving my project a chance because to be honest this project was something very new to us. Thank you for everything and please do come to Malaysia again if you have the chance to.

The boss running for President

Wild Hokkien mee appears!

The last time we met in person during the president elections. I would like to express my gratitude for teaching and guiding me so much. To be honest I wouldn't have be able to execute Renaissance without your help. Being completely clueless on Incoming Global Development Program, your guidance has given me the opportunity to learn so much more and meet so many people I never thought I would ever get to meet.

Thank you Lim Shi Ying for everything. May we meet again one day in the future and I wish you all the best in your future undertakings.

This is Tan Kar May. The President for AIESEC in UKM in 2012/2013. This photo was taken because I took a photo with Shi Ying and I did not want to offend you so I took one with you as well ahahahha just kidding.

Thank you for listening to me being random at the oddest hour and giving me advice on everything. I just realized I didn't talk to you much about AIESEC even though I met you through AIESEC.

Thank you for giving me a chance in the interview when I applied for VP.

I think I left my influence in AIESEC in UMP with the pokemon obsession. I have a confession to make. My favorite Pokemon is Charmander but everyone always think it's Pikachu. My English name is literally Pikachu.

This is why I love AIESEC so much. These are Matryoshka dolls. I only seem them in movies and read them in books. I didn't expect to be able to see them in real life.

This might be the first time Koreans came to UMP

My children. I would like to thank the Pokemon Masters of iGCDP 13/14 for sticking with me for so long. I admit I may not be the most organized person due to my random nature which made work sometimes messy but I am grateful you all are able to put up with me.

To Farhana, I am very proud when I saw you took up the post as part of the Organizing Committee of East Coast Award Night. At first I was worried you might not be able to fit in because we are kinda open and loud at times but you are able to blend in with the family. I have yet to see you this semester but I wish you all the best in everything. Be brave and take up all the opportunities out there. I believe you can do so much more.

To Tai Jee Qian, congratulations on taking up a role in the Executive Board for term 2014/2015. I am sorry for not being able to provide a project for you to learn as project director but I am glad you took up another leadership position. Like everyone else I wish you all the best and let's go makan bandaraya more often k .

To Heng Sheng Guang, you are the dark horse in my team. You are always quiet and you really did surprise me when you did more than I ask you to. We all have our own commitments and I am sorry I was not able to show your relevance in AIESEC. All I can say is good luck in the things you pursue and please commit fully and be awesome in it. You are my first member and I am glad you held on until the end of the term.

To Laang Shiang Hoong, sometimes I want to slap you in the head for being so playful at improper times but then again I am thankful you stayed in the team and contribute. No matter how playful you are you still come to all the meetings and help out in the tasks given. My word of advice to you is that it is time to walk the talk. Actions speak louder than words. I hope to see you proving to us how awesome you can be in the coming term.

Finally last but not least, to Phua Jin Hoe thank you for being so outstanding all the time. You are always the one member that does everything on time. I am proud you decided to go on an exchange and even stayed as Senior Executive in the new term. Remember we only limit ourselves by being afraid. Take a deep breath be more than you can be. I hope to see great things from you in the new term.

The successor Josephine Wong. I could not ask for a better successor than you. Having experience by carrying out the National Project I know iGCDP is in good hands. I wish you all the best in your term and accomplish what I couldn't do in my term.

The prez Jayson Sue. Thank you for putting your trust in me although at certain times I screwed up badly and delayed a lot of things. Thank you so much for putting so much to assist me in the very first batch of interns for Renaissance. Words can't express my gratitude and I couldn't ask for a better leader to guide us all. Look at how much AIESEC in UMP has changed in just a year. From being a small unheard organization in UMP, through your guidance we managed to make AIESEC a force to be reckoned with.

Good luck in everything and I hope you do an awesome job as MCVP like how you did as Local Committee President in 2013/2014

The partner in crime, Kevin Lee Kar Heng. Thank you so much for struggling with me when I try to realize my first batch of interns for Renaissance. I lost count how many sleepless nights you had to go through to aid me to guide the interns. Thank you so much for everything and I am sure you will be able to bring AIESEC in UMP to greater heights as the president or term 2014/2015

wow. so president. many thank. wow