The Austrian IC roll call

Finally and directly on your favourite MC-blog: The most famous Austrian rollcall (thankfully filmed by our Swiss colleagues).

Enjoy!

This week in the MC office ;)

So the winner quotes of the week in the MC office are...

place nr. 1: Oh My God! :)

place nr. 2: What the F***! :)

The long discussions that we held were about the Ambition in the country, the key measures of success for our term (once again), and X, X, X :-) (at least between me and Amit :)

Nice things that happened: finally we have got new comfortable chairs/whiteboard/flipchart holder and a new table for Amit :)...so guys, soon is the office-warming party!!!! u-la-la :)
it took *just* a few hours for Amit to build up the table :-)
Quote: "That's the most complicated thing I have ever seen!" :-)

I wish like I were in the office now with the guys, but we cannot open the toilet....hahahaha
I sincerely hope for a common sense solution to that issue next week :)))))

Thinking back of the week and everything that happened, I am still smiling cas some situations were really really funny and I'd say then - OMG! (which is so me, as Kaisa correctly pointed out :)

wish you all a nice weekend!

Creativity and the educational system

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize - much less cultivate - the talents of many brilliant people.

Some Quotes:
"We are educating people out of their creativity"

"Children are not afraid to be wrong. Allow me to say that being wrong is the same as being creative. What we do know is that if you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with something original. By the time children become adults they are frightened to be wrong"

"All educational systems came into being to meet the need of industrialism"

"Many highly talented, brilliant highly creative people think they are not. Because they think what they were good at at school wasn't valued or was actually stigmatised. And I think we can't afford to go on that way"

RE: AMBITION

Sitting here in our all new MC office and listening to "Hero of the day" I can only say that....

"I am looking for a lot of men here who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done"

Cheers!!
Your MC Team 07/08 - The Heroes

AMBITION

I came across this wonderful quote, which I would like to share with all of you, since today was the day under the tag 'AMBITION'...

''Ambition is an uncomfortable companion many times. He creates a discontent with present surroundings and achievements; he is never satisfied but always pressing forward to better things in the future. Restless, energetic, purposeful, it is ambition that makes of the creature a real man.''
by Lyndon B. Johnson

...I see and feel ambition in some people and some places in AIESEC in Austria, but I am looking forward to have it in EVERYONE and EVERYWHERE. What about you?

"Our actions are driven by passion, commitment and ambition"
Extract from the MC 07-08 Vision Statement

TtT and TM/PD NSB ROCKKKKKK!

These two days have been really exciting for me, especially after having met my dear National Support Team- Martin and Robert and having talked to the TtT delegates :-)

I am truly proud, of you, guys and my Lady, Martina! Great job! Incredible commitment and drive. I am very impressed by the way you worked together, created and delivered a great learning experience for the delegates.

It's awesome to see, feel, hear and read the excitement and joy of everyone who has been involved and present at this TtT!

I couldn't be happier for your SUCCESS! Enjoy it!

I wish you many more great experiences and successes!

Hugs and LOVE,

Julia (a very proud TM :)


P.S. the world should know the HEROES :0!!!

The Power of ONE is the power of TEAM...

My favorite shining faces looking at you...(or not :-)

Enjoy the SUNSHINE!

MC Team Building, July 2007

IC 2007, Turkey (Vlad's B-Day :-)

How is it - MC Life?

Hey all,

feels like a good time for sharing, opening up, letting you know...

The reason: I got many questions from diverse people about how the MC life is...how I 'survive', if I have any free time, why I work on weekends, why I tend to talk about AIESEC like 150% of the time and why is it hard for me to think about other things in life, other ways, other people, other destinations...? Tricky questions, maybe some answers might seem scary…however, there are for sure people who understand what I mean really well.

And the answer is - the life I live now is incomparable to any other experiences before. AIESEC is MY life this year (more than anything else has ever been). I have chosen this life and I think that is one of the best things that has ever happened to me!

SO you still wonder how is it???

It is so intense that sometimes the head (or the brain :) wants to explode, the heart wants to jump out of the chest, the soul is between fire&ice, water&wind most of the time...I find myself thinking tons of thoughts, juggling lots of tasks, reacting in diverse ways and everything at the same time...and every day. It is like being all the time ‘in the eye of the hurricane’...

I think my friend described the MC xp and feelings attached really good: „gibt soviel Energie und Wissen, nimmt gleichzeitig auch wieder Energie und Wissen, man wird gepusht und puscht andere, der Körper hat die ganze Zeit nur Adrenalin im Blut“...

„happy und unsagbar traurig, etwas enttäuscht und sehr sehr zufrieden, mit einem strahlenden Lächeln und Tränen in den Augen“.

Scary, ha? It might seem…on the other hand.

My life is very colorful-full of impressions, energetic, 'always on the move' or on the road or on the phone...meeting after meeting, discussion after discussion, reading, creating, working long hours (like all night through) with the feeling of being tired but not able to stop or to sleep (some call it being passionate about the work you do ;) ...and never stop thinking, reflecting, searching for the truth, for a better solution, for how to drive this positive change and questioning...questioning a lot if what is being done IS THE MEANING or THE PURPOSE and yes…often thinking a few steps ahead.

This tempo and life style is actually kind of a paradise for such active and driven people as I am: the faster and more - the better!

I feel like I learn a lot EVERY DAY!!! Can you imagine what kind of a powerful learning it will be after 365 days? :) (let's see!)

I learn from my team, from my VPs, from the ‘fucked-up’ situations and small successes, from the tasks I have never ever done before, from the things I already know but have a chance to improve (and thus deepen my knowledge). And I learn so much about myself and the people I work with – the incredible bright individuals, who are for sure ‘the gems of a person’ (as one of them says ;), and without whom my MC experience would be far not as cool as it is! Thank you guys&girl, for all the unforgettable moments together, LONG discussions, feedbacks, smiles, hugs, random times, understanding, inspiration, your courage (and finally renovated office :-) – I feel honored to be part of our team!!! And even though the hurricane is blowing hard (like now), luckily I find power to stay still for some moments - take a deep breath, take a close and far-reaching look at myself, at my work, at my life...at what matters and what maybe not.

What matters is that I feel as alive as never, as full of fire as one only can be...I realize that these moments are precious, that this year I will never forget, that this experience will change me for ever and will also leave impact on people who are close to me.

The power of the AIESEC experience for me is in its intensity. It is like standing in the center of a circle and passing on the ball to the people surrounding you, and getting it back but from all possible directions…the speed increases, the number of balls and people as well. And…

it might get scary, overwhelming or breathtaking…maybe even a bit dangerous...

But exactly in this lies the real beauty of the experience, of what we know as self-discovery, transformation, connecting to true self, to the deep roots of cause embedded in heart and soul. This is how it feels. This is what it is. This is why it is incredibly worth living, worth getting up every day, smiling, and when not feeling like smiling saying to yourself: “I am strong and I can make it. I see the meaning for myself, I see the cause… and I stay true to it".

Again and again, AIESEC proves that giving in a lot you get out as much or more. Change is not possible through just SOME efforts or random actions…Putting in whole heart & soul, all thoughts and hard work (till feeling the pain), taking the hard road, striving for 200%, believing that ANYTHING is possible is what leads to real transformation, deep learning and self-discovery…

no short-cuts, nothing superficial, nothing fake or irrelevant …

And that’s been just 2,5 months ;-) and I am looking forward certainly to the rest of the precious months/days/minutes/seconds I will live as an AIESECer creating my own experience and shaping some bits of similar experiences around me.

Thanks to all my friends who are at any time there for me! Thanks for your care and support and believing in me...and standing still with me.

Proud to be. Proud to feel. Proud to care & reveal… (and it even rhymes...hehe)

What about your experience and its intensity?

Are you living to its most?