So Nithya, my new friend, asked me to update my blog. I can see that I trashed my blog a bit, posting videos, cause it was fast. I need some consulting regarding blogs, because I don’t dare to be completely honest, keeping the audience too much in mind and not revealing what I really feel. Why have I started to blog, because I thought that it was important to report what I do, because I knew I would travel and have some exciting experiences. But then I started this journey and did not take time to reflect, I did not take time to breath and I did not take time to tell you my story. So let’s forget the filter and just start telling what’s going on in my life. What happened in the last nine months that made me the person I am today?
Picture: me, recently. Outside has not changed that much.
Malta
We’re in Malta, bitch! You should listen to that song and you’d know how my experience on Malta was: truly AWESOME!
Before I went I was nervous and excited, I didn’t think I would be able to live the experience of being able to facilitate on an international AIESEC conference. One of the coolest thing I did in AIESEC is being a trainer and working together with people who want to learn and develop. Why was I nervous? Because this year has shown me one big thing: my strengths and weaknesses. Wanna know my strengths? I am creative, innovative, inquiring, curious, organized, and open. My weakness? I lose interest very easily, I do not believe in myself, I can be messy, and I have mood swings. What I hate most right now is my insecurity.
So I was nervous, about working with a new group of people. I am always afraid to be the odd one, the one not being part of the group. I arrived in Malta and that feeling did not slip. It was a hard time to get through the pre-meeting of the conference, but it was good and important, cause I learned so much about myself. I felt a bit like an outsider, but in the long round I found out that most of that feeling was created by myself and my self doubt.
This is Malta (and my current desk top background):
So how could you not be happy on that island? The conference itself was one of the best experiences I ever had in AIESEC. It was like the perfect circle closing: my first international conference was in Belgium in 2006. There, I realized, I wanted to do certain leadership positions on a local level, do at least one national leadership role, be a facilitator and then facilitate at an international conference. Today I can say that I achieved all these goals! Also, this conference had precisely the same profile as the one I attended in Belgium 4 years ago. This fact gave me huge inspiration and motivation to perform 110%. The result was an awesome group experience with the group I coached for two entire days. Each individual made the experience crazy unique for all of us and every member of the group inspired me to strive for something real. I was also able to connect with much more people that I usually do. I was really out there, a real part of the conference and that made me very proud.
My homegroup and my faci team:
And after the conference? I saw Malta! Such a beautiful island. It has a very rich cultural heritage raging from the crusades and the knights to several occupations. Most importantly I was able to spend time with some beautiful individuals. I spent a lot of my last day with Ana from Colombia. She knew everything about the island, the history and the buildings. We had real eye opening conversations, because we are so different and so much the same at the same time. She helped me see what it is I want to do next and helped me believe in my idea. In the end of the trip I also had the chance to connect to Nithya. My insecure side made me believe that she did not like me in the beginning, but our conversations during the last night really made me change my opinion. It’s crazy how people can be so positive and lively even when life tests them. I love the kind of conversations I had with her and I hope I’ll meet you again someday dear Nithya! Other people that greatly inspired me were the Danish delegation who kept a great spirit throughout the whole conference. Thank you so much for all the energy you all gave me!Prague
This trip was meant as team days for the national board of AIESEC Denmark. Going to Prague is always great, because after London it is one of the cities I want to return to. The city was beautiful, the sky was blue, the food was great. In order to write about the whole experience, I need to come home, really home. I will leave home to my mum tomorrow and rest for the first time in a really long period. There, I will be able to tell how Prague was. But I have a pretty picture:
So make me write and remind me to write and maybe one day I will do it without someone asking me to.
