Waiting to FLY

A Friend

2011-12-25T19:33:00.001+07:00

On a Christmas day, when, unlike every day, I had nothing fun to do. I've spent the whole day chilling at home - sleeping, watching TV, watching movie, facebooking, etc. All wasn't that bad; I actually feel really relaxed. Just now, I watched an interesting show on CNN, Dinner with the Kings, where some celebrities were sitting having dinner at Larry King's mansion. They were talking about their life, what they are usually misunderstood for, their role model and those that have influenced their lives, what they are grateful for, etc. All of them are apparently very successful and famous, although before the show the only faces that I knew were Tyra Bank, Russel (Katy Perry's husband), and Larry King. Another interesting person in the show was Jake Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter.

It's really interesting hearing those things from high-profile, highly successful people like them. Most of them were mentioning their parents being their role models, their best friends. Jake said the fact that his both parents were entrepreneurs (his father started his Pizza restaurant at the age of 19) influenced and gave a lot of inspiration to him. That's really nice but made me wonder how the fact my parents are living their life the way that I don't in the slightest want to live mine in the future. Don't get me wrong; I'm very grateful for what they have done for me, but there are many elements that are discouraging as well. I guess, I want a completely different life.

One point of the show Larry talked about having a close friend and asked if everyone has one. Some says it's their family. Larry defined the friend that he was talking about as someone that if we call him/her at 3am and tell there's a problem, they won't ask what have happened; they just come over. That's quite an intriguing statement; do I have that kind of person in my life? In fact, I've been asking that same thing all my life and most of the time I am convinced that I don't. That is really sad, but I think the fact that I don't open myself that much to those around me, hardly anyone really understand me. I still doubt if they need to, though. :D

I guess, this is another inspiration thing I encountered on this Christmas evening. Anything can be inspiration actually, as they get me to think and reflect about my life, about what I want in life, what the fact that my life isn't even close to being successful, and that if I want something extraordinary for my future, I need to work harder, make plans, and be better at whatever I do. After all, none of us can't expect to be extra-ordinary, while everything we do each day is just plain and uninteresting.

A Short Exciting Life over a Long Uneventful One

2011-12-25T13:05:00.000+07:00

There are always reasons why everyone should always stay optimistic about their lives; those reasons are so obvious that no explanation or any exact statement of them is even needed. Whether young or old, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, there is always a reason to smile and be happy, living. With that in mind, life goes on. Then there is another thing to be curious about, once we are optimistic, happy and appreciate the meaning of life, what is the best way to live our lives? I say, life is best lived by making it as interesting and as eventful as possible, just as one saying goes, “It’s better to live a short exciting life rather a long uneventful one.”

How many times do we get to live? Once! Can various risks of accidents or any deadly occurrences be completely eliminated from our lives? No! Do we now know, or can we determine (aside from the case of suicide), when exactly our life will return back into nothingness? No! This is life; life can be short. That’s why we have to live it to the fullest and make every moment of it meaningful and exciting. Life can be made interesting and exciting by always seeking to experience, and actually experiencing, something new and adventurous (such as: snorkeling, bungee-jumping, skydiving, eating exotic foods, climbing Everest, watching movies etc), travelling to different places and countries, meeting different people and making new friends, just to name a few ways. These may be scary, they may cost us a lot of money, and they may even be dangerous, but a long life would end with regret of not doing them even once in our lifetime. They can bring joy, push up the adrenalin in our body, and can be something for us to be excited about waking up every morning. Why do we have to over-think or care too much whether such exciting elements are going to shorten our lives, while we cannot predict until when we can live, anyway.

Having said that and held this view about life, however, I will not be judgmental towards those that value a long, peaceful, uneventful life over that excitement. Human beings are different, and how we view the world also varies. Some people may enjoy following same routines, in which their lives are kept floating like plant spores drifting through the air, which can be their value in life and which cannot be considered wrong. Letting everything be slow and uneventful, they may feel more at ease, being less overwhelmed by risks of possible dangers that life has to face. To live longer is what’s more important to them.

Anyhow, like aforementioned, life is lived only once, and to me, it would be meaningless to live it this one time having done so little and trying to get rid of or avoid exciting elements that can spice it all up always to new and different level. It may be short, but who cares, when we cannot even determine until we can live, anyway.

MCP of AIESEC in Cambodia - Will it be the next step of my life?

2011-12-20T01:19:00.000+07:00

Just a few minutes before 23:59, I clicked on "Send" button and my application for MCP of AIESEC Cambodia 2011/2012 was submitted.

It has a very really long process of considering it over and over again, before arriving at this very difficult decision of applying. One side still enjoyed AIESEC Experience so much that I still want to leave just yet, as I'm sure there's nowhere else I can develop myself in just one year as much as with the position of MCP, and another side of me feel apprehensive and very held back by the thought of having to go through everything all over again - having to give speech, be interviewed, meeting and form a new team, trying to adapt and get to know each other, missing the old team blah blah.

Despite most of time being sure to go for it than not, every step of the way there has always a certain moment, a certain, even very superficial, factor that affect my mind, holding me back from making decision. I should have made my decision far eariler so that I could have time to polish my application and be more prepared with everything. But it was all just so painful and brain-wracking thinking that I tried avoid the thought at any possible time before the deadline. It all really hit in the last few days when I have make time looking at the very long application and started filling them filling them it. The application completing process itself was also distracting; filling it in I was some time very discouraged to move forward.

Against all odds, I've made my decision and I did it. I've submitted the application. There are now 4 applicants, including me and Pisey, applying for this position. I am ready and will be happily accept defeat if the winner is Pisey; for sure I will be happier if I win, but if Pisey will, I will also be happy. Just as I have said in my application; it's about time a Cambodian represented this AIESEC country. We need to prove that Cambodians actually have the needed potential to grow and to lead the organization. :)

As for now, I'm happy with the decision and feel rather relaxed already, having submitted the most tedious paper work ever. Another task of creating a self-introduction video still isn't finished. As I don't have that much skill and creativity in something like making an interesting video, it'd also be a challenge. But again, in the meantime, after such a long day, I can sleep now.

Oh, one thing very unfortunate happened today. Needing my laptop to answer a few last questions to submit by mid-night tonight, after having left the office, I forgot to bring my charger. Hungry and tried, i went straight home. Until at home, I realize about forgetting the charger. What a co incidence! It's fate trying to tell that I shouldn't apply? Despite it all, I've went back to UP, at 9pm, to fetch the charger. It was a long tiring ride again. Glad that I still managed to have a proper night with laptop in my face tonight.

Why I applied for MC last year?

2011-12-17T12:25:00.000+07:00

As I'm considering to apply for MCP next year, I've been looking for inspiration to fill in the application form. Then it came to me the thought of wondering what the true reasons of applying for my current positions really were... I did get some inspiration reading those thought that I put down again. :)

General Questions:

1. Why you have decided to stand for MC of AIESEC in Cambodia?

In fact, whether to apply for this position or not has been quite a difficult decision for me. After graduation, I believe there are a few wise alternatives of paths I might choose, one of which is with AIESEC. All are considerably interesting and have good prospects, but as I kept balancing to find the one through which I can learn and grow the most, in terms of life skills, experience diversification, life-enrichment, networking and so on, AIESEC certainly stands out.

I used to serve AIESEC as an LCP. The whole experience was very brief, though, as I had to leave after only about 6 months in the organization. The moment I was resigning from AIESEC, I was really determined to come back for more. After all, it was an honorable position and I felt I had done enough to be really proud of myself. However, about one year later, when I was back, any opportunity by which I can get back in this youth organization, unlike what I had expected, has not been very easy to find. For the last 4 months, I’ve been looking here and there for something that I can do, through which I can make an impact but which would not debase my ego. Actually, one of the current LCPs once offered me a position as a VP in his EB, but I respectfully turned it down. Indeed, it really is a good position, and it wasn’t that I felt I was too big for the position or anything, but the point was how would this affect myself and my ego to be moving down the ladder, from an LCP to a VP. That should never be in anyone’s way of doing things, and it is definitely not how AIESEC’s ways teach its members. We should always be moving upward, and not the other way round.

Now a great opportunity has arrived – the opportunity that will allow me not only to get involved as a volunteer but also to seriously contribute full-timely to this organization. The current position in availability as an MCVP LC Development is really appealing to me.

2. What measurable results have you achieved throughout each position of your AIESEC Experience to recommend yourself as the most suitable candidate for AIESEC Cambodia 11-12?

As mentioned earlier, my stay with AIESEC was rather brief, with me serving as the LCP of AIESEC Phnom Penh. I then led a team of 5 people; our team worked closely with the Expansion Team at the early days of AIESEC in Cambodia. While the Expansion Team was focusing on sustaining the breath of this organization and achieving amazing numbers in term of exchanges, my team were active with being trained, experimenting, managing the team, and involving ourselves more and more, in a manageable pace, in AIESEC-related activities. The team helped expand AIESEC into other universities, and at the same time, recruited more members into our local committee. By the time I resigned from my LCP position, AIESEC Phnom Penh, led by another very competent LCP, grew to be comprised of 20 remarkable people, and AIESEC is present in 6 of the top universities (5 local committees) in Cambodia. All these mentioned may sound rather superficial, compared to the current status of AIESEC Cambodia, but I am confident that I have what AIESEC needs of its MC people.

Besides my leadership experience in AIESEC, I also have quite a bit of experience working in various social projects, most of which were engaged in organizing and leading youth related events (such as camps and education outreach and workshops). Although none of them involved such full-time work, there was definitely commitment and ongoing learning in place with each role taken. Further, with a number of international experiences, namely in conferences, trainings, and the like in Singapore, India, the US and Italy, I have developed understanding and great tolerance towards differences among different peoples and cultures, bringing relevance to AIESEC’s international working experience.

3. What was your biggest failure in AIESEC and what did you learn from it?

What was the thing for which I failed so gravely that it confirmed my biggest failure in AIESEC? Admittedly, that would be the goals set for my Local Committee with the time frame of 1 year (April 2009-April 2010), about 3 months of which was under my presidency. During the first 3 months, my team and I did great in terms of talent management and capacity development among our members; however, regarding tangible results with exchanges and financial standing, our LC was not very impressive. Although our operation was fairly well sustained by the profit from running GLP trainings, for the first three months we didn’t manage to increase any ICX and OGX numbers at all. That made my presidency less than 50 per cent successful, since in AIESEC exchange is as important as leadership development. Although then the whole goals can’t have been regarded as a failure yet (as only one-fourth of the one-year time was used), at AIESEC’s standards, as well as at my standards, that 3-months of my leadership was a failure.

So with such grave failure, what is left of me to be qualified in this MC 2011-2012? Recognizing such unsuccessful operation, I’ve really learned from it and have grown to be a better more efficient person. All has confirmed that true commitment for success and against failure is what needed every step of the way in doing anything. Then my team and I were with passion, with enthusiasm, but still the problem was with how much we were ready to commit ourselves and how certain we were certain about and believed in AIESEC. At one point or another, our commitment were shared among our private life, academic life, AIESEC and other work (in other word, for many of us, AIESEC was just one of the many things), we questioned our motivation behind AIESEC, we were on the fence, and we were making excuses to ourselves and to others about anything that went wrong. I am sure that was exactly what held us back and hindered AIESEC operation towards optimal success. Now, it’s different; I’m mentally and physically ready to commit myself for the betterment of this organization. After all, an MC position is just too big to mess. Either I work really hard to kick ass and achieve glory or I will be remembered in the history of the AIESEC world as a disgrace.

4. Describe your standards of success – if elected, what needs to be achieved at the end of your term in AIESEC in Cambodia that you will say you were successful?

Applying for a position at a level this high, one remarkable motivation stays with me. I have observed how noticeably business-oriented AIESEC Cambodia has been, which is totally appropriate for an organization that aims to develop individuals that are able to survive outstandingly well in this globalized world. However, I would like to see as many things done in order to minimize the cost this business-oriented nature brings along. Business mindsets should be nurtured to flourish, but at the same time, care for the common good of the society and others should always co-exist. I would like to develop a clean image of this organization as created for a good cause, as one that benefits not just particular groups of people but one that produces results for and allows participation from a wider range of people.

Therefore, if I achieve the honor of having this position, I will do anything in my power to integrate more social activities so that there is a visible balance between the business/profit-oriented image and the society-oriented one. Further, AIESEC trainings, seminars, and conferences should be not just applicable to those students and members that can afford the fees; certain methods and strategies must be designed and implemented so that the issue of money isn’t necessarily be the hindrance for participation of those who usually look at AIESEC activities with certain levels of disadvantage.

In order for these to be feasible – for AIESEC Cambodia to be more society-oriented, its high-financial position must be first achieved. High numbers of exchanges and profit-boosting quality trainings must be in place, earning the organization more than enough money to sustain its operation and meanwhile, to organize various non-profit activities to contribute back to the society. In a nutshell, I can say I was successful during my term when enough philanthropic activities owe credit to AIESEC in Cambodia so that its vigorously business-oriented image is well-justified indiscrimatively to the eyes of everyone.

5. What is AIESEC’s bottom line?

The bottom line of AIESEC is that it was created and has been adopted and planted all around the world because there is a belief that inside every human being there is leadership potential to be unleashed, and in order to unleash, and ultimately fulfill that potential for the betterment of humankind, they are put with responsibilities of working together despite differences.

6. Describe one creative solution that you proposed to any problem in your life.

Life is full of problems, and usually when any attempts fail or when things go disappointing, what can be more relaxing than to dance to fast music and/or have a good sleep to those problems? This may work but only temporarily and may not be very creative.

One memorable experience was, in fact, not really a problem, but it became the problem because I regarded it as one. It was a group assignment, in which my team and I had to prepare an oral presentation plus a role-play, regarding 2 of the chapters of the story we have learnt. As we were the last group, we had seen and known how other groups did, on both the role-play and the presentation. Having seen one of the groups having done as yet the best, receiving 14.5 out of 15 points, we felt the bar had been raised higher, which was considered our problem. To solve this problem, we first of all planned to commit ourselves for 15 points. Then, our new and

creative solution was bringing onto the table—to our presentation and role-play—something different and creative. We all were trying to think of and putting in something that had not been done before. We set up the stage for our performance in a completely different way; we designed and used videos to help present ourselves in the role play, etc. Most importantly, we stayed united, working together in a way that a person kind of led but everybody contributed. Amazingly, we were overwhelmingly praised and received 15. All in all, it was successful because we had begun ―with an end in mind‖.

7. Describe one situation in your life where you have given up. What did you learn from it?

Looking back, there are a lot of things I have given up; most aren’t grave, though. I guess, one is worth mentioning here. It was a few years ago when I had really strong longing to take up Japanese as my third language. I then saw a great opportunity; the Japanese centre in my university started a Japanese course for the new semester. I wrote the application form, went on an interview, expressed how much I loved to learn the language, but sadly failed to convince the interviewers. I was really sad and disappointed, and I decided to quit trying; I have never gone near the thought of applying for studying Japanese ever since. I totally gave up on it.

And now do I feel some regret at all? Not at all. That taught me one thing; that is, sometimes, for some situations, giving up isn’t a pathetic, gravest thing to do; sometimes it is wise to give up. It is true that once we fail, we should not lose the spirit and quit trying; we should just go for it again and again until we pay off. I cannot agree on that more, as long as that thing we are not giving up is something that we really want in life. However, for things that aren’t really necessary and basically not something that we’re truly passionate about, why should we bother wasting time and energy going for it? I was just stupid, influenced by friends and the environment, then to blindly go for Japanese. After all, it’s still up to us to think and decide what’s best for us, what we should never give up going for.

8. What are your personal values? Please bring an example of how you have demonstrated each of them in your life.

There are three things that I personally value to the fullest. First, my life has been invested in continuous effort to enrich my life experience – making it as diverse as possible. With this value, I’ve always tried to experience as many things as possible. I love travelling and taking adventures, meeting new and different peoples and experiencing their cultures. I would love to work in different fields of interests (with my at-least-do-anything-once-in-my-life attitude), as reflected in my ongoing engagement in various youth groups and many extra-curricular activities (AIESEC used to be just one of them). Second is perseverance. I strongly believe that anything is possible to achieve as long as we never stop trying despite little indication of success at first. I myself was a very timid and somehow pathetic boy. With just a little spirit of perseverance, I’ve come this far, making it very overwhelming to imagine how far I would go if I was more persevering than this. Last but not least is knowledge. I have discovered that, I get impressed easily by well-educated people; that is, the higher their education, the better impression I have about them. This factor reflects me as a person who very much values education. I think people with knowledge possess the power and critical mind to dominate and lead others, in an ethical way, and are often returned with respect and admiration. That’s why I’ve never given up on my studies, always making sure that good results are achieved.

9. Pick three interesting facts the whole world should know about Cambodia.

One: Cambodia is truly a corrupt country, in which there are plenty of potentials waiting to be unearthed among its people. Difference towards betterment can certainly be made as long as persistent endeavours are taken to develop and fulfill the potentials of its people, which is exactly what AIESEC is striving for.

Two: Cambodia, ―the Kingdom of Wonders‖, is truly home to a great deal of amazement. We have the history of the Angkor Empire (one of the most sophisticatedly established kingdom at its time), leaving prevalent traces all over the country as our invaluable cultural heritage, in addition to our natural resources and our potential to grow economically.

Three: Unlike a few foreigners think, nowadays it isn’t that exotic, with the majority still living in small cottage with no electricity and no modern technology anymore; on the other hand, Cambodia is developing and we have pretty much everything that any developing country has. Plus, Cambodia now is perfectly safe; there isn’t war or genocide any longer. Shame on those who have cited Cambodia as one of the most dangerous places to visit!

Misfits

2011-12-17T01:15:00.001+07:00

Recentemente, un paio di cose che sono state intercettazioni mi sono apparsi veramente mi ha colpito, più che mai. Un sacco di insicurezze, un sacco di dubbi, un sacco di pressioni, un sacco di delusioni nella vita ... nonostante il fatto che ho cercato in tutti questi anni di ignorarli ... In realtà, essi sono sempre stati lì e più ci penso e analizzare l'amaro che tutti si.

Famiglia non è mai stata una grande parte della mia vita. Anche se amo e apprezzare quanto i miei genitori hanno fatto per me e la mia famiglia, io non sono mai un grande fan di famiglie e quasi non spendere fino a un'ora al giorno fuori con entrambi i membri della mia famiglia. Tutti insieme si è sempre stati amici e il lavoro, con cui ho trascorso la maggior parte del tempo e sentirsi il più divertente e il più comodo. Dal momento che sono stato coinvolto con questo e che un sacco, diventa tutto di me di ri-pensare a tutta la faccenda. Ad un certo punto, mi arriva a scoprire chi sono veramente i miei amici, che capiscono e la cura della mia amicizia con loro la maggior parte, e che mi sento più apparteneva con ... Ho i miei amici del liceo, alcuni gruppi diversi dei miei amici IFL, i miei amici SUSI, i miei amici SYC, i miei amici OGX, i miei amici PUC, e, naturalmente, i miei amici AIESEC (compresa la mia squadra di MC, la mia casa le persone LC, AIESECers e altro).

Se confronto tra tutti questi diversi gruppi di amici, in questo momento, trovo compagnia con i miei amici AIESEC la più divertente, il più comodo (in cui posso solo essere pazzo e di essere me stesso). Questo vale solo per la mia squadra attuale MC e poche altre persone. Non mi sembra di sentire una simile vicinanza con gli amici a casa mia LC più. Col passare del tempo, le cose cambiano. Per i miei altri gruppi di amici, la vicinanza e simili hanno sembravano svanire tutti via a poco a poco. Dal momento che difficilmente si incontrano, siamo cresciuti sempre di più di uno sconosciuto gli uni agli altri. Le cose non possono stare come il modo in cui erano.

Tuttavia, tale AIESEC amici sono quelli che sono attualmente più vicina al sentire e più confortevole attorno ha effettivamente qualche errore. Recentemente, si sta facendo più forte la sensazione che non mi appartengono con le persone che sono fuori e trascorrere più tempo con. Un sacco di AIESECers che conosco, soprattutto molti che sono più vicino a, vengono da una famiglia benestante, che sono stati molto usati per andare in giro con le macchine, avendo fornitura costante di denaro dai loro genitori a spendere e, non avendo problemi di incontro e appendere in luoghi spesso costose, per gli esempi. Devo ammettere che ho cresciuto fino a diventare così, sicuramente non perché i miei genitori sono ricchi e posso appendere fuori e trascorrere del tempo con loro. Oltre al supporto di base dai miei genitori, avrei risparmiato qualche soldo dal denaro in eccesso lasciato da programmi di borse di studio, ecc, che mi permette la libertà finanziarie di fare un sacco di cose, anche se i miei genitori non sono il tipo che sono sempre pronti a dare mi soldi extra da spendere. Recentemente, da quando ho usato tutti i miei risparmi e fatto una tale enormi spese finanziarie per il mio viaggio in Kenya, sono letteralmente rotto davvero. La difficoltà mi ha veramente colpito la mia situazione attuale (senza soldi risparmiati a sinistra) mi hanno fatto capire veramente cosa si prova a venire dalla famiglia con un tale status economico. Ed è allora che sta diventando ancora più evidente di quanto non mi appartengono tra il gruppo di persone che sono in giro con tutto il tempo.

In questo momento sto cercando di pensare a qualcuno che sarebbe in grado di andare ad un concerto internazionale (EXIT MTV) allo stadio con me. E 'stato davvero difficile trovare uno. È un dato di fatto, ci sono un sacco di persone che conosco stanno andando al concerto (tra cui un sacco di quelli che considero i miei amici più cari). Come il concerto sarà molto affollato e andrà fino a tarda notte, ho pensato come posso andare con i miei amici, mentre la maggior parte di loro hanno auto e ho solo un motto e la mia casa è lontano dagli altri. Io personalmente trovo molto scomodo. A chi devo andare? Non riesco quasi a pensare a qualcuno. Molto amici o meglio di solito non sarebbe problema prendendo ogni altra casa, ma il problema è che io in realtà non osano chiedere di unirsi a nessuno. Se chiedo di unirsi a loro, il mio problema di dover andare da solo in moto può farle sentire obbligato a offrirmi un giro anche se non sono molto disposti a. Possono utilizzare, ma l'ultima cosa che voglio fare è far sentire a disagio qualcuno e fare qualcosa che non ho tanta voglia di fare. Forse è semplicemente perché non hanno davvero nessun amico stretto o migliori amici.

Questo mi fa guardare indietro a quando ho appendere fuori con i miei amici del liceo, quando eravamo molto vicini e sempre appendere fuori insieme. Tale pressione (che mi sento ora) non è mai sembrato accadere tra noi. Non ho mai sentito alcuna differenza, disagi e simili con il mio aspetto, come ho fatto il giro della città, come ho fatto questo e non che .... Anche se nel corso degli anni siamo cresciuti l'uno dall'altro, sono ancora molto pochi dei miei amici che mi sento più confortevole di essere chi sono e dove sono davvero venuto.

Questo è solo molto triste. Ma questa è la vita. Nessuno dei miei amici sono da biasimare per qualcosa. Sono solo diverso da me e quindi sono da loro.Nessuno di questi sono i loro difetti, sono tutti i miei problemi. E 'totalmente il mio problema che non riesco a trovare il gruppo di amici che posso considerare veramente vicino e che sono con caratteristiche che realmente appartengono.

My MC Life

2011-12-15T10:35:00.005+07:00

It was Jan 9, 2011, when I was first elected into the MC team of AIESEC Cambodia 11/12. Taking time to look back at the time that has passed since then and ponder, there have been many things that happened, that I did, that I got engaged in, and that have directly or indirectly influenced me. All have made AIESEC one big part of my life.

What's more can I ask from all the amazing things that I have happened? I am part of a very dynamic team, full of very competent, energetic people all spirited to challenge and develop themselves and others. Despite some arguments we have from time to time, my team is still some of the best people to hang out with. Every day is about meeting and working with highly-motivated individuals whose personality, mindsets, and determination would never cease to impress and inspire me. Every day is about doing things that we love, planning and creating strategies to implement at the national level (with the thought at the back of our head that every decision made will impact lives of our members and other young people in Cambodia). It’s about something that I can always be excited about waking up every morning, knowing that it's another day of fun, of personal development, and of effort trying to achieve something big for my life and for those around me.

At certain points, however, MC life can be challenging and stressful. Many jobs get done with nothing but struggle and hours of stress. There have been points when self-esteem problems hit me, when I felt challenged and really down about myself not being able to deliver certain tasks as well as expected. Those moments, though, are really powerful learning points. Only at such edge of my comfort zone can I improve and be a better person, I believe.

Responsibility would be another aspect that I would like highlight here. It’s what really figures, along with my personal motivation and my trust in AIESEC, and has kept me on my feet always moving forward. To me, unlike other position within AIESEC, an MC member is more than just an employee who works full-time each day for monthly salary, with authority to lead and manage the whole organization. We are also passionate volunteers, who are deeply grateful for what AIESEC has been doing for the world and for us and who would always be willing to do more than what is required of a normal employee. Thankful for all the privilege and all the trust given to us with this role, we breathe in and out AIESEC, feeling our responsibility and contributing anything even beyond our limits to deserve all the privilege and trust.

After all, where else are we paid to have such freedom, such inspiration, such a big leadership responsibility, and such empowerment? I feel so fortunate that in December last year I took the effort, despite all the insecurities and doubts, to complete the applications and went for the position. It’s been a truly amazing journey, and I’m already pretty saddened by the thought that the finish line is less than 6 months away.

How proactive are we?

2011-12-02T17:27:00.000+07:00

Arriving a bit late, which I didn’t feel very guilty about as it was only a bit late, I spent my Saturday morning attending the 2^nd Professional Skills Seminar organized by AIESEC in Cambodia. I came with an expectation to see a lot of people all exciting to learn such practical, important skills as CV and interview skills to support their future. However, things went under my expectation. First, only around 50 people showed up to participate in the room with the capacity of more than 250 people, which makes the atmosphere rather hollow and obviously not very satisfactory to our main partner, Coca Cola. Secondly, not everyone seemed to be as exciting and eager to absorb what was provided. What’s sad is that among those few people with little excitement about learning were mainly our own AIESECers.

One of the most important aspects in AIESEC, which every AIESEC member need to know in order to live a fulfilled AIESEC experience and which is also one of the major reasons some AIESECers get a point where they lose motivation and commitment towards AIESEC and decide to give up on the organization, is the attitude of proactive learning.

In my opinion, despite keeping preaching how beneficial our trainings and programs are so that students get interested and invest their time and other resources to join, many of us fail to value what we preach ourselves. For those who were in the seminar that morning, think of what you were actually doing during presentation and experience-sharing delivered. For those who weren’t in the seminar, try to think of the last AIESEC event that you were in. Ok! Were you paying attention, were we really taking in the messages conveyed to reflect, were you asking questions, were you proactive to learn? In other words, do you value the sessions as much as you would like others (participants) to value them?

I think sometimes we are bloated with the feeling that "I’ve heard about these topics before. I can copy the ppt. and read them later at home. They are just my fellow AIESECers so they’d talk about the same thing and they won’t have much that I can learn from,…" These are just assumptions and these assumptions will not get us anywhere; these assumptions prove against proactive attitudes. We may have heard, read and learnt about these topics before, but the topics are not presented by the same person or it may be by the same person but it’s presented another time… No matter what, proactive attitudes will tell us that there’s always something new for us to learn.

Remember that as AIESECers, organizing such events is not just about coming to fulfill our responsibility; it’s also about taking chances to learn and develop ourselves further. As AIESECers, you are not invited to just fill the room because we can’t find enough people to enlarge the audience; you are invited because we care about developing you, about fulfilling our promises that AIESEC makes when recruiting you…. We have made these opportunities for you to grab, opportunities that we have brought to your face… However, there’s only so much we can do; to benefit from all these, your proactive-ness is the key.

[AIESEC Cambodia 11/12] TM Newsletter, Nov 2011

2011-12-02T13:33:00.000+07:00

MCP Applications 12/13 – AIESEC in Cambodia

Deadline: December 19, 2011
More Information: Application Package
Contact: peterericjobson@gmail.com

MCVP Applications 12/13 – AIESEC in Cambodia

Deadline: January 15, 2012

More Information: Application Package

Contact: peterericjobson@gmail.com

[AIESEC Cambodia] OGX October Newsletter

2011-12-02T10:29:00.003+07:00

My second day in Kenya

2011-09-05T23:59:00.002+07:00

It’s our second day in Kenya; it’s when we start to have some touring around. We were supposed to join a pre study tour with the CC of IC, but as things did go as planned – no one came to pick us up at our hostel, we decided to go for the tour by ourselves (which we think were quite cheaper and more convenient than the organized tour).

Hopping on the taxi whose driver agreed to take us around the whole day to places that’d interest us, we had to pay 5000 KSH. He had to bring us to places that we wanted to go, waited for us until we finished our visit, and all in all, stayed with us the whole day.

The first stop after the hostel was the baby elephant orphanage. We each had to pay 500 KSH to enter and have a look at the elephant orphans. It’s expensive considering the fact that we just stood and watch those small, lovely, brown elephants playing around on the field with humans standing nearby giving description about the project and the story of each elephant. Our next stop was at the Giraff Centre, where I could have paid only 250 KSH, but I paid 700 KSH simply because I wasn’t fast enough to find something that I had with me that could show I’m a student. I had my passport with me and it’s printed very clearly that I am a student; what a shame.

Our next stop was lunch. The taxi driver dropped us at place, which we first thought was quite expensive, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t so expensive, considering how much meat were actually served. Each of us paid around 3.5 euro and we got a lot to eat; I liked that meal a lot. And after lunch, we headed for the Bead factory. There we were guided though phases of how beads are made and finally, we were in the bead shops where a lot of bead products are on display for visitors to buy. I also bought several piece of beads, each one of which is with a letter and all of which made TM and OGX. J Plus, Pisey and I bought FN for Reach and ER for Jack. All seemed good except that the cords that we were given to tie the beads to make bracelets are all pink.

A note on the night of August 16

2011-09-05T23:58:00.000+07:00

We’re finally in Africa and so many things have turned different from our expectations since the start of our journey.

Many things that people all around the world think they know about Africa are actually not as true. For example, the weather in Kenya is much cooler than in Cambodia. Here the hottest month is around January and February and the temperature can go as high as 30 degrees Celsius and it can get as cold as 10 degrees around August/September. The heat is actually nothing compared to how hot it gets in Cambodia; it can go as high as 45 degrees in April in Cambodia. Getting off the plane in Addis Ababa, we could feel smoke coming out of our mouths; that’s how cool it gets. :D

Now, as we’re finally spending the night in Nairobi, Kenya, the exotic, exciting nature of Africa that I used to think of experiencing once in Africa isn’t as apparent here; things are just not as exciting. Hopefully the proper tour that we are having tomorrow with the CC of IC will get us somewhere exciting and enjoyable, not to mention our 3 days & 2nights in a safari in the most famous safari area in the world. I hope this will make it worth it spending so much for this 3 weeks journey in Africa.

Come what may, I’m positive that the whole IC experience will make everything totally worthwhile. I can’t wait for what’s coming - the inspirations, the conference experience, the parties, the meeting with new friends from all around the world, the hangout with leaders from so many countries in the world, and all the learning and getting-inspired experiences.

Monday, the worst day of the week?

2011-08-08T23:31:00.000+07:00

Monday used to the worst day of the week, you know, simply because of the feeling of having to go back to school early in morning of the next day. I remember feeling rather miserable thinking that I had to go through another whole week until I could enjoy another weekend. “It would always be like this even after school years; apparently, it’d be even worse when working,” I thought back then.

Things seem different now. Now that I’ve finished my years at IFL and for this term and I only need to attend 4 classes per week in the evening, although I have to spend more than 8 hours per day for my full-time job. I’m currently the MCVP for TM & OGX of AIESEC in Cambodia, and I think it’s probably the best job in the world.

Every weekday I have the obligation of showing up in the office at 9 and staying until 5 pm, although I usually stay later than 5 pm, so it’s more than 8 hours per day. When I was only a student, people kept telling me about full day of working would just exhaust us and we would simply drop dead in bed and not be able to do anything else. It’s very different in my case. I’m enjoying my work so much that even after 8 hours of working in the office each day, I can’t wait to come back home and further do it at night. It’s the job, for which Monday is as normal, and sometimes even more exciting, as other days of the week.

NYLC and IC are coming!!!

2011-07-30T13:40:00.000+07:00

The National Youth Leadership Conference of AIESEC in Cambodia is approaching, while IC is approaching even closer. I am extremely excited for both, but what’s ahead that needs to be done seem rather overwhelming.

For IC, it’s a huge investment that I have decided to spend 6months of my salary to participate in this conference and be really poor and in debt afterwards. I have to learn from it as much as possible, to make sure that I won’t die of regret not feeling the experience was worth the investment. So that brings the need to be really prepared for it. In order to support my function in OGX, I have to prepare proposals for partnership (so that in country meetings I have what to present in a way others will have the trust to partner with AIESEC in Cambodia), and at this point, I don’t have everything in place yet. This can be huge and if successfully done, OGX work for the rest of the term would be much easier. In terms of knowledge of TM and OGX, I need to have specific strategies to learn from other more experienced individuals so that I can know more and be a better VPOGX and TM. There are so much that I need to know, so much improvements that can be made. Unless I have everything planned, I won’t have the direction, the commitment and confidence to mingle around meet people of similar or more experience in the same area and learn from them, for example, and I would end up having talked and learned very little from people of these backgrounds, just like what I did during the last APXLDS. We also have a lot of logistical preparations to do for IC, including preparing AIESEC merchandises, designing and having T-shirts published for office use during IC. Clothes and formal wears for certain events also figure in this preparation.

Another concern, which I must give a lot of attention to, is to find the best Acting MCVP of the both functions, while I am gone. There’s so much that I need to do each week; I can’t imagine having no one to take these responsibilities for the whole 3 weeks. This is a really serious business and can’t be taken for granted. Now the problem is whether someone will be committed to this job and whether I will be able to transfer them all they need to know and will do everything I think are necessary to be done by certain deadlines. To ensure the success of the two Acting MCVP while I’m gone, very clear transition plan and mind-map of what priorities exactly to be done, by when, is seriously needed so that I can guide them through everything thoroughly before my departure.

How about NYLC which is happening only 2 weeks after IC? The role as agenda manager is too important to be taken for granted. I’d be considered so irresponsible if things would turn shit and I'd turn out to be unprepared and deliver shitty sessions in front of our members and some international delegates. It would be too embarrassing and it will all ruin everything that I’ve been working for. Being selected into the MC, with the feeling of not being good enough for the position, with the feeling of appreciation and gratitude to those that have made the decision for my appointment, I’ve always wanted to prove everyone something, to prove that I will not let them down, that I will do my job well, to the best of my abilities. It’s also to prove to myself that I have the capability of doing it well, that my sessions will be inspiring, people will like it, and I will look like a real competent MC member, not like the crappy session that I did during the last day of the last National Congress.

Ok, let me now just cut all the craps and start working. Only when I stop dwelling in these worries and actually start doing something in these preparations, it all will fail and the worst things I’ve been fearing will just be materialized and become reality. So let’s just cut the craps and start working.

La mia inglese.... Che peccato!

2011-06-19T09:04:00.003+07:00

Era quasi inimmaginabile il tempo che ho iniziato a studiare l'inglese. Ricordo di essermi sentita così imbarazzo, essere deriso a causa di come mi sembrava stupido cercare di chiamare A, B, C ,..., quando ho iniziato durante la mia terza elementare. Mi sentivo così male che sono tornato a casa e ha cercato di imparare tutto a memoria.

14 anni dopo sono qui, a volte sentendo piuttosto orgoglioso della mia capacità di inglese, ma altre volte, mi sento molto depresso. Pur partendo molto presto, il mio inglese è ben lungi dall'essere perfetto. Tante cose sono successi nella mia esperienza di studiare inglese: sono andato a studiare in classi di merda, senza prestare attenzione alcuna, andavo lontano da casa a una classe che si è conclusa a tarda sera, sono stato sgridato e detto di uscire da mio padre arrabbiato perche sono arrivato a casa troppo tardi a notte, ho memorizzato tutto mentre alcune persone pensavanno e' inutile, mi sono chiuso nella mia stanza 4 o 5 ore di fila ogni giorno per studiare vocabs e grammatica , e ho anche andato a prendere l'inglese come il mio maggiore all'università. L'inglese è diventato così importante per me.

Tuttavia, cosa pensi di come parlo in inglese? Osserva come faccio pause tra le parole, presta attenzione a come quello che dico non sembra avere molto senso, ascolta com'e' forte lo mio accento cambogiano. Non può essere meno deludente sentire nessun miglioramento nel mio parlare, soprattutto, dopo tanto tempo ed energie è stata dedicata. Anche se non tutti possono acquistare in inglese che ho sviluppato, ci sono ancora così tante persone che parla inglese così bene. Recentemente, perche lavoro con più persone, ho visto alcune persone più giovani che possono paralare come un nativo della lingua inglese. Mi sento così impressionato, così geloso e così deluso di me stesso. Dopo tutto, l'inglese è la mia principale, è quello che ho sempre sentito orgoglioso di sapere, è l'unica lingua straniera che posso sperare di essere bravo a ...

Ora ho la possibilità di lavorare in un ambiente che posso parlare inglese molto, e 3 dei miei colleghi possono parlare con me solotamente in inglese. Mi sento piuttosto inferiore non potere esprimermi bene e velocemente come loro, ma cercherò di trarre il massimo da esso. L'unica cosa che posso fare ora è parlare inglese sempre come possibile, spero ci saranno alcuni miglioramenti.

My first official email as the full-time employed MCVP TM&OGX

2011-06-12T11:07:00.002+07:00

Dear Outgoing Exchange Masters and Talent Managers,

It's been a few days since my full time employment for AIESEC in Cambodia started and this is my first email written to you with this new position. I hope it finds you all well.

You all have been involved in the planning process of your own LC and you've set some outstanding goals. Each LC goal is a very important driver to the growth of AIESEC in Cambodia as a whole; that's why it's in my job descriptions to do all I can to the best of my ability in order to help you achieve all the glory that you've planned for your LC. Please bear in mind that I am no longer a volunteer; I am fully-employed to work for you, so feel free to let me know if you need any help or assistance. I'll be there ready to answer all your calls, all your emails, and all your facebook messages...

Anyway, I have created two facebook groups, one for OGX and another for TM; from now on, this facebook group page and emailing will be the 2 main tools I will use to channel information to you.

Like what I wrote there, at the start of the term, it's important that we meet often and do some vigorous planning so as to lay strong foundation for what to come throughout this new term. So let's meet some time on Monday or Tuesday next week. Here are a couple of things I request you do:

1. Please go to our facebook group page and list down all your free times, so that we can find one that will satisfy most, if not everyone.
2. Please confirm me which email that you regularly use and want my emails to go to.

Thank you everyone for your time spent on this email.

Warmest regards,

--
Yi, Longdy

Vice-President of Talent Management and Outgoing Exchange

Member Committee 2011/2012

AIESEC in Cambodia

Tel: (855) 16561950 Email: longdy.yi@aiesec.net Skype: longdyyi

Farewell Party with AIESEC PP

2011-06-11T23:42:00.002+07:00

This evening we threw a party as farewell to the old term and celebrate the start of the new term. There are many things I like about this party:

1. Stepping into the restaurant reminded me of one of the most special moments of my AIESEC life, when I was thrown a super surprise party two years ago. Back then, just before I left Cambodia, I was deeply heartened by the love and appreciation I was given by my aiesec friends. They sneakily ignored me and sneakily got me to that restaurant one evening and gave me one of the biggest, most pleasant surprise parties ever. Once I entered the dinning area, these shiny little things popped open; there were cheers and claps; I got hugged and they made me feel so special, so loved - the feeling I don't remember getting anywhere else. Looking back it was really touching, really special. I just can't thank everyone enough.

(the date stamp is wrong though...it was somewhere in July 2009)

Although the party this time ain't as special for me, it did highlight a very special moment for everyone in AIESEC PP. I feel so much love, such strong bonds among everyone.

2. Even though I don't feel so close to a few of the people yet, to most of AIESEC PP folks, everything just feels so at ease, so natural. I don't have to be afraid of being myself and of getting loose and just having fun. No matter how, I still feel appreciated and welcomed in this family. It was a goodbye party, but I just don't feel like a goodbye. I'm sure i'm going to be around, watching over the growth of this entity, watching so many special things shared to many more lives. :)

3. I may not be the most expressive person; I don't usually share how I really feel to other people, but I really have some great feelings for some of these people; I have already considered quite a number of them my very good friends. I hope the feelings are returned. :)

4. Although I didn't eat as much as I need to get full, I enjoyed the food. I also like the atmosphere inside this restaurant a lot. We could have everything to ourselves and all was exclusive :)

It was just another lovely day in my AIESEC experience. :)

MC in Transition

2011-06-11T01:26:00.002+07:00

Roughly 5 months after being elected as the Vice-president of Talent Management and Outgoing Exchange for AIESEC in Cambodia 2011/2012, I finally have the rest of the team with me in Cambodia; we are now in full force all ready to lead AIESEC in Cambodia towards greatness.

June 8, 2011: One day after the National Planning Meeting, during which highly ambitious goals with amazing plan were produced, the 6 people of the new MC team, with the old MC team, caught a bus to Sihanouk Ville and run our transition there for 4 days and 3 nights.

After 5 hours of really boring travelling, we were at Sihanouk Ville, from the bus station taking TukTuk in the rain towards the guesthouse. In this neighbourhood, everything was built for foreign tourists; many things looked really new to me. I was rather excited!

After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we went straight to what we were there for, transition. We started of with a brief intro to this "conference" and continued with "Evolution of AIESEC". Although with such a familiar topic, after the session, I got to understand AIESEC more, from all the reading, elaborating, and discussing. Next, Chetra and I got to share to the rest about how was AIESEC in Cambodia was started. Afterwards, we also analyzed and looked at AIESEC in Cambodia 2010/2011.

The meeting of the first day was pretty intense, adding to the fact that there wasn't any fan and where the meeting were happening wasn't the most comfortable one, best for productivity. However, what followed was rather relaxing and enjoyable. Strolling around with foreigners in the areas that very few Cambodian tourists are found and enjoying barbecue on the beach felt pretty awesome. The time when I was in Europe (going to pubs and clubs) came flashing back in my head with such environment. I really loved it.

Sadly after only a while, everyone seemed to their separate ways. Jack, Peter, Nadya and Pisey wanted to go back to the guesthouse and work. I continued hanging out with them for a while, and then I went back to find Reach, Tra, klara, and Lauri. We drank and had some fun chit-chatting. After some time, with the excuse of having some assignment left to be finished as soon as I could, I walked back to the guesthouse to find Nadya, Jack, Pisey and Peter sit discussing some stuff. I joined the discussion, before everyone parted to their own beds.

Day 2 started and we spent pretty much the whole day discussing stuff in the transition agenda, from the services the MC could provide to support the LCs to what the last MC has done in providing those services. As more time was spent, as more discussion were gone through, I got to see clearly how MC performed and how this entity figures in the whole operation of AIESEC in Cambodia. It's all exciting, overwhelming, challenging, interesting.... altogether. I guess, though, that's exactly what makes this job so cool :)

After all the intense meeting, it was dinner time and we could just relaxed feeling the sea breeze on the beach. Afterward, with little rain falling down, we went for a drink, moving from pub to pub finding cheap drink and cool vibes. All was just so cool. It was another cool night, feeling like a foreigner and enjoying quite a foreign tourist's lifestyle. We manage to stay until quite late; however, while everyone was tipsy and drunk, I was all sober again. Quite disappointing! :P

The next day wasn't quite what I was looking for. Leaving everyone, I had to head back to Phnom Penh first because of the damn exam that I had to take in the evening. After breakfast and a brief morning hang-out with the rest of the guys, I alone had to drag my bag down from the room, buy a bus ticket and take an 11am bus back to Phnom Penh. I was all alone, but things got quite better as there were only about 10 people sharing the 45-seat bus with me, making the whole travelling back to PP rather comfortable. :)

The transition wasn't completely over. Because I had to come first, I have meet with Klara and Chetra again to make sure that OGX and TM transitions are finished properly. :)

Anyway, it wasn't just the transition knowledge that I got from this meeting; I also learnt more about the old and the new MC team. We've known each other better and I've grown to like them better as well. I also found certain things about them really inspiring as well. All these has really fueled my aiesec passion and commitment. My biggest goal right now is to do my jobs to the best of my ability, proving to both myself and others that I have the capability to do this well.

Promoting Exchange

2011-05-27T07:59:00.002+07:00

As a part of AIESEC - the organization that enables youth leadership development and exchange, my current role is to promote exchange and make it possible for other people to go on exchange in the other country. With the national plan of reaching 100 exchange number to be realized this summer (meaning having 100 students/recent graduates to undertake their internship abroad this summer), for the past few months, exchange is in everything I do. I created a website and keep polishing it, I always talk about exchange to my members and friends, I've been asked about it, advertisement about it is all over my facebook wall, and so on.

Despite all the effort, not much seems to be pay off. So far we only get a smaller number of people interested, who have actually applied for exchange (about 40 people) and we only have less than a month to work on our original plan. Apparently, there have been certain barriers, which are fairly unfavorable to our program. First, it's the question of financial capability of the students. Not many students seem willing to invest for such opportunity. The fact that they have to pay for their own air ticket, in addition to the admin and preparation fees paid to AIESEC in Cambodia, does discourage them to even start applying. Only those who have taken some time to comprehend the importance of it and feel such internship is actually worth the investment seem ready to take it. Second, for students at PUC, if they want to go on intership (minimum of 6 weeks), they have to suspend their study, as PUC doesn't provide any vacation longer than 2 weeks. For those who want to finish their study as soon as possible, exchange may not be very exciting for them, and it don't even seem to cross their mind, the need to even learn more about the opportunity. Third, some people may find AIESEC internship rather complicated. It's quite a process to start from applying until the actual internship, and without thorough explanation from our AIESECers, it's close to impossible to understand everything, unless the interested are very keen on the program and spend quite an amount of time researching it for themselves. The fourth point may be related to the spoiled image of AIESEC to the eyes of a few people. According to my observation, AIESEC has had quite a number of haters. For no particular reasons, some people just don't like AIESEC. I reckon, the reason may be in part from the poor quality of GLP, not seeming to provide as good quality as it was promised. Some may simply get overwhelmed by its omnipresence, how prevalent AIESEC is in campuses, in Facebook etc, and for no particular reason they grow indignant of the organization.

Anyway, considering the national statistics, so far, since the birth of AIESEC in early 2009, AIESEC has received around 30 interns from over the world to work in Cambodia; however, only 5 Cambodians have gone abroad to undertake AIESEC internship, which is a totally disappointing figure. More Cambodian people should have such experience, so that they can learn, develop themselves, get out there and be noticed as a Cambodian, and bring back good practices to develop Cambodia. It's not fair that among tens of thousands of students from all around the world are living their international AIESEC experience each year, only a few are from Cambodia.

That's why I'm not quitting anytime soon; I still have hope. I'll keep up what I am doing now and trying to come up with and implement new initiatives to make sure that a much bigger number of Cambodian exchange participants will be guaranteed for the future of Cambodia.

Here are the program website and our Facebook page. :)

Finally in Kompong Sam: in a retreat with the State Alumni Cambodia

2011-05-27T07:21:00.002+07:00

On May 13, 2011, departing from Phnom Penh, the State Alumni Cambodia bus hit the road for a 3-day retreat in Sihanouk Ville to celebrate the grand success of our most recent project of Youth Education Outreach Program, as well as to reflect and draw out the plan for the new initiatives.

Following the Grand Camping, a remarkable event marking the end of the one-year long project that has reached out to groups of ethnic minority students in 7 different provinces, it was time that the Cambodian State Alumni met up, evaluated how the project were carried out, celebrated what have been done well, learned from what went wrong, and materialized the next plan of the Alumni.

One main purpose of this retreat was also to ensure some quality and relaxing moments among the members, allowing stronger bonds, solidarity, fraternity and closeness to seep into the fabrics of their relationship as friends, fellow alumni, and colleagues. Throughout the 3 days and 2 nights spent together in Sihanouk Ville, a moderate amount of time was devoted to team-building activities and games, connection activities, family-like lunch and dinner, and late night parties. All these have developed in each of us the sense of belonging, the sense of ownership, better mutual understanding, and stronger companionship for one another.

The alumni also managed to have a few very important meetings during the retreat, finished with some amazing outcomes. Talks and reflection on flaws made in the last project were fruitful and insightful; we were able to transform our understanding about our past experience into better techniques and strategies to better run our other two important projects within 2011/2012, namely the Access Outreach Project and When Youth Take Action (the Alumni Engagement Fund Project). Another part of the meetings was for us to show our appreciation towards the whole working team on all that have been done well, including our strengths and everything that played to the team’s benefits.

The rest of the meeting times during the retreat was utilized well on laying the foundation for the alumni’s next activities. Some fundamental ideas were discussed, including how the State Alumni Cambodia should be structured, how to manage information within the group, how to boost publicity and reach bigger impact, how to engage more participation from each alumnus, how to guarantee sustainability etc. Although detailed plans and strategies were not thoroughly drawn out, the meetings did manage to achieve some concrete foundation that has widely open doors for what to follow.

May 15, 2011: The State Alumni Cambodia bus made its turn to Phnom Penh and the retreat ended with remarkable impact left in each of us - stronger bonds among ourselves, higher morale for the team, and greater positivity for our next steps.

As a trainer

2011-05-02T11:23:00.002+07:00

Last weekdays it was all stressful trying to prepare for a session about teamwork, after having been asked to take a role as one of the trainers in the Leadership Conference, which is a part of the 3 stages of the Global Leaders Program of AIESEC in Cambodia. When first asked, I was quite excited to do it, but when really going through everything that had to be presented, everything seemed to fall apart. Unlike what I had expected, not everything was in place; taking this responsibility I wouldn't just need to do the presentation over things that was already in a good shape. The original module was actually designed to be delivered for a 1-day, while I had to do it in just one hour and a half. Plus, things, including the powerpoint presentation about the module that I was going to cover was pretty messy. It was honestly quite discouraging and frustrating to look at it feeling all the mess and imagining much more work than I had expected. Of course, such thing could be very easy for many talented people, but for me, who is naturally not so good at presenting, at training people, at communicating etc, there was so much to be done to make me fully confident. I was quite lost before the leadership conference.

The morning of Saturday, April 30 finally arrived; it was the moment of truth. No matter how little I'd prepared, I had to go up there and deliver the session. As not many people turned up for the event (only around 50, as opposed to the expected 100+, were there), most of my nerve just went away. I wasn't that apprehensive before my turn to do the session. Sitting listening to the first 3 speakers, as the event progressed, all felt like a normal aiesec event, something I felt quite used to. And then it was my turn.

I was given the floor, at quite a behind-schedule time, and I started my session. As there was approximately only one hour for my session (as opposed to 1 hour and a half as planned), I needed to remember to keep all short, precise and to the point. I did manage to keep it rather short, leaving out a few items unpresented, but for the precise and to the point parts, I wasn't very sure. I think I did okay.

I tried to put in practices so that the atmosphere in the room was less boring and less sleepy. The participants did seem to enjoy those fun practice activities, which made me feel quite good about the job I did.

The challenge was though trying to make others really see the points that I was trying to make. Many things I presented, I feel, were quite similar so they could easily go mixed up. And I didn't feel I made the distinction clear from one items to another. After all, I kept reminding them that they needed to read and reflect on the reading material given along with the session and used all the practices that they got a chance to do that day as examples to reflect on regarding all the theories. I hope they did learn something and didn't feel it was a total waste of their weekend.

Oh there are a few things that I should have done, but I didn't do:
- I should have allowed time for questions. I should have made it clear that the audience could stop me to ask questions, that they could challenge me at anytime with what I had to say. That way, I would have made that session more interactive, more comprehensible and more effective.
- I shouldn't have used so many "you know" in my speaking. I didn't actually realise it until informed by Panha. After the session, I got a text from him informing me of this and that suddenly reminded me of the last time I was delivering session for the last NC of AIESEC in Cambodia. Then I was also told by my friends that I used too many "you know".. I must have been annoying for the audience to hear so many repetitions of "you know"....

Hyped up

2011-04-27T02:09:00.001+07:00

Era un tempo orribile stare nella lezione ieri pomeriggio. Ero molto dstratto! I couldn't concentrate on lesson at all. My mind was actually so stuck on something else. Quando pensavo del mio lavoro con aiesec, tante cose venivano in mente. Mi sono preoccupatti dei i eventi che sarebbe organizzati. I started to think about the meeting, about what to do to boost the team performance, about how to get more people involved and committed so that I could trust and delegate some tasks to them, about making a short promotional video with necessary information to get people in the next big event interested, etc. Whether that's possible, how I could make one, who I should approach if I couldn't make one, etc. all came rushing through my head. Also annoyed by some stupid, mind-blowing, super-annoying noises from outside the class, by the summer heat, and by the boring the lesson, I was somehow shaking. I almost went crazy then.... Things were just too complicated then, and I had no feeling to study at all..... It was a super crazy, super-frustrating afternoon! It was so painful waiting for the class to end.............

The importance of being proactive in AIESEC

2011-04-27T01:38:00.001+07:00

One of the most important learning elements that I acquired through my participation in the last APXLDS was the realization of how crucial being proactive in AIESEC is.

Naturally, I tend to be very apathetic about certain things that surround me, and for those things, I only react after something has actually happen. My APXLDS experience can be a very good example in this regard. I didn’t care much to push myself hard enough to talk to as many people as I wanted to, I didn’t bother to do as much to create and maintain good relationship with my fellow AIESECers from other countries, I didn’t try to talk and get experience from as many experienced AIESECers in my field of responsibilities as I could, I didn’t do enough to represent my team and my country in creating partnership with other AIESEC entities etc. For sure, I did those things, and sometimes I felt I did a good job. However, they weren’t great yet; there was much more I could have done. In retrospective, I was moderately proactive, but I could be more proactive. It’s definitely overwhelming to imagine how much more I could get out of this APXLDS experience, if only I had been more proactive.

The point is that we can’t just sit still and stay apathetic about our surroundings and expect to get something. We need to go out there and do something. We can’t expect our questions answered, if we don’t ask. We can’t expect to make a lot of friends, if we don’t swallow our nerves and talk and be friendly with that lot of them.

Coming to think of it more and extend the concept into the current realities of AIESEC in Cambodia, a lot will be changed for the better if everyone can be more proactive then we are today. From days to days, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing problems, complaining about what have gone wrong, criticizing what haven’t been done right…. But we’ve done very little to curb those problems and prevent them. We spent so much time on words but very little on action. To me, proactive attitudes are about actually doing something.

Many members are losing their motivation and trust in AIESEC and thus, have become very apathetic and inactive. And I guess, they have legitimate reasons for that. They may feel like they are not gaining as much as they are contributing. As a member of this organization, we are contributing our time, energy and financial resources for tasks to be done, and if we do not feel that what we’ve gained is somehow comparable to, or exceed, what we’ve given, it’s natural that we get less motivated to keep it up. Those people may not feel they are getting enough leadership skills, communication skills, usable working experience etc. Some don’t even get a moderate amount of knowledge in their functional team after some months in the organization. That’s obviously de-motivating, right?

Capacity building and leadership development is, in fact, not JUST the responsibility of any specific individuals, not just that of team leaders, LCPEB, or MC. It’s the responsibility of all the people that comprises this entity. And that enforces the concept of being proactive.

As a member, who enters AIESEC for a reason, we should keep asking ourselves if we are accumulating the skills, knowledge and experience that will ultimately elevate us to reach our goals. Do I get enough work? Have I got a chance to execute my leadership skills? Am I given enough opportunity to learn? Am I educated enough about this organization? Are my concerns and criticisms well taken into consideration? Are my leaders doing their jobs well? If not, what should I do? We need to keep these questions in mind to check if we are fully capitalizing on this platform to get ourselves to our goals.

In this sense, say if we feel our leaders/our VPs are not doing good enough jobs, we need to have the guts to poke them. Tell them! If you don’t feel your learn enough about OGX technical knowledge, talk to your VP and tell him/her to spare some of his/her time teaching you. If you don’t think your VP is good enough or is contributing enough to his/roles, challenge him/her to change or be replaced. If you don’t feel your team leaders have enough leadership skills to manage and lead their teams, assign or invite competent trainers/coach (or someone on the MC) and organize trainings for those leaders, for an instance. If we don’t feel our MC is doing enough for our interests, tell them and bring to them solutions that they can do to improve the situations. We won’t flourish in AIESEC, if we don’t care and do something giving the reason, for example, that our leaders are lazy and not doing enough. We will flourish, whenever we take an active part in trying to make ourselves flourish. We will develop, whenever we actually do something to develop ourselves.

Therefore, with every step of the way, we must ask ourselves how proactive we are either as a member, as a team leader, as a VP, as an LCP, or as even an MCVP elect.

3 of the things I learned from APXLDS:

2011-04-27T01:36:00.001+07:00

First, do you all know what APXLDS is? Isn’t it another acronym in AIESEC that when mentioned to you, you usually nod your head but actually have no idea what it really means?

APXLDS is short for Asia-Pacific Exchange and Leadership Development Seminar. It is the second most important annual conference of AIESEC International, after the International Congress. This year it was hosted by AIESESC in Vietnam, which 6 of us from AIESEC in Cambodia got the chance to participate.

Indeed, it was very international; the event was joined by delegations from 25 different countries, from all six AIESEC regions (namely Asia Pacific, Middle-East and North Africa, Western Europe and North America, Central and Eastern Europe, Ibero-America, and Africa).

From this experience, there are literally 4 major things that I came to realize and would like to share with you all. I got to realise:

- How big AIESEC is: We have roughly 110 countries in our global network, which means each one of us share a network with around 1 million people. I’ve sure read and heard about this; however, it was just surreal to see and really feel it very closely. I feel it; I feel the immense size of this organization.

- How competitive and ambitious AIESECers are: It’s really proud to aim big and to have big achievements to share in such international events. We’ve seen great achievements of China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Russia etc. I was made to believe that all these achievements actually started with some bold goals and ambitions – the goals and the ambitions that we all can feel and set now. During the Gala Dinner at APXLDS, there was an award show, and AIESECers from India, China, the Philippines, Australia and Afghanistan were there to proudly accept the award. That made me, as a part of this group of people, have the ambition of having someone from AIESEC PP or AIESEC in Cambodia being called upon the stage and accept such honor as well. Because they can and have done it, we can too. Maybe China, Australia, and India are too big or more developed for us to compare ourselves with, but we are not far different from the Philippines and Afghanistan. We can be as competitive and as ambitious too. Besides, you must hear AIESEC’s “BHAG” to see how ambitious this organization is! BHAG is short for Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal, which is to develop and engage every young person in the world. I repeat, EVERY young person in the world.

- How business-oriented AIESEC is: I see how business-oriented AIESEC cultures are. We have expectations, we are determined on getting results, and we make profits out of that. Conference fees are expensive, and pretty much everything is for sales. It’s all business, but guess what, everyone seems to be very okay with it. It’s what AIESEC aims to produce. It’s undeniable that we’ve done less of philanthropic activities; we’ve done less charity work etc., but we do not attempt to make impact that way. We contribute back to our society and to our world in a different way. We do that by developing young people into globally minded responsible leaders, leaders that will go out there and be a big business person that make huge positive impact with their sustainable, right way of doing things.

And these are the 3 of the things I get to realize and to reaffirm myself about, having joined this amazing Asia Pacific Exchange and Leadership Development Seminar.

Have we done our job well?

2011-04-27T01:33:00.000+07:00

What are basically the core purposes of AIESEC? Isn’t it about leadership development and exchange? Taking this into consideration, how far have we gone in fulfilling this purpose as the leaders of AIESEC PhnomPenh?

How far have we really gone? How many leaders have we develop and how many exchanges have we made possible?

One of the things that we are working on, and that we are quite concerned about, has been the EB election. We've been quite apprehensive that very few are applying for this leadership role; apparently not many people are willing to grab this opportunity. And then we ask, how many of our current members are really qualified candidates for these EB positions? How many of them are ready? Honestly speaking, not so many I think are. But why is that? If one of our main purposes is to develop leaders, at the end of the day, there should be plenty for us to choose from unless we are not doing our jobs well.

For candidates who are strong and ready, have they always been this strong and capable and usually stood out since the time they were first selected or have they changed to be one because of the journey they have taken with AIESEC. If the former is mostly true, how pathetic we are as the current EB! It seems like we haven’t done much to fulfill this purpose of creating leaders. I do hope there is some truth in the latter as well.

So what should I do, as the next MCVPTM&OGX, to ensure the effective sustainability of leadership pipelines for this organization, especially in the next term? I can’t afford to do what is currently being done; some new initiatives must be implemented to ensure that my roles will be taken with pride, not as opposed to with shame and disappointment.

Grand Camping: the expectations, the appreciation and the regret

2011-04-12T12:08:00.005+07:00

Once planning activities with a few other core people of this “grand” camp, I was really excited; I knew there were going to be plenty of fun and memorable experiences for both ourselves and the participating students.

However, when finally in the camp, I got to see less of the fun and more of discomfort of not having a nice place to sleep on, not having fan to cool myself down when it’s hot, not having a warm blanket when it got cold, and especially, not having proper, homey toilet to use. I had forgotten the dark side of camping.

Although it was how such camp is meant to be – to be challenging, to be out of our comfort zone, and to be full of tough learning experiences for the participants, I kept questioning if I was at the position that I needed to be learning such things. For one thing, it wasn’t my first time; plus, I feel I’m among the old ones in the team now. For a while, I was somehow questioned by whether it was as worthwhile for me to do that at all.

After the camping, after all things came to an end, everything has turned to bear a much more positive image to me. So many things happened in such memorable ways. And working as a SUSI alumni, I can easily get along with people and can really receive great fun and satisfaction from the activities. Leading my family group, I felt the respect, I felt the love, I felt their words of addressing me as their father, and I felt great confidence in myself. Even though a few things could have been done differently so that, for example, we could win some game and accept some award, I still feel rather good with everything that happened. Also, making new friends and staying with a few of my close friends, and getting to share a lot of laughter with them was one of the best things happening in the camp. I’m sure I should have done a lot more to make more friends and to get closer to them, but what I did already brought me quite a blast throughout the event.

One thing I took quite personally and dare to admit some responsibility in its failure was my role as a mini-project coordinator for Kampong Chhnang delegation. I didn’t take it as serious as the students did. Apparently, they had tried so hard. If only I had given more care to providing them with more information, more precise instructions of what they had to do, and more involvement as the coordinator of their project. After all, they really deserved some award among the top three. I was also quite pissed at the pressure suddenly imposed on and felt by those students because of those intended and highly-debated changes. I felt great sympathy for the Kampong Chhnang team when so clearly their confidence was profoundly shaken by these immediate changes. However, I am still very proud of them; they have gone so much farther than I’d imagined. I love them, and I only wish them the best.

In fact, I remember feeling goose-bumps when hearing how Senghong (project team leader) responded to a student who challenged his team as some group that was flattered and kept showing off by always speaking in English while others spoke in Khmer. He said, why should we do it the easy way while we can do it the hard way and stand out? It was one of the most inspiring things I heard from this camp.