Hey AIESEC!!
Here we go again on one of my favorite sections “Ten questions to an AIESECer”, this time I had the opportunity to interview an AIESECer from Portugal who had a great career and development in Talent Management. She participated in many AIESEC conferences as OC member and Faci, I specially remember her from ILC 2008 in Barcelona, yes I was there as delegate 
she did a great job and I personally saw her inspiring AIESECers to take the most of their AIESEC Experience and I’m sure after you reading her answers you will be inspired as well
Ten questions to an AIESECer #3 “Eva Madeira”
1. How did you become an AIESECer?
I went to university with high expectations. I chose one of the top universities in the country expecting it to prepare me for the working market; expecting teachers to talk with us and not at us; expecting to be shown practice and not only theory. But what I found was exactly like high-school, except with twice the books to memorize.
I was looking for something more; something that went beyond the four walls of a class room.
That’s when a good friend told me about AIESEC, describing it as a “test tube” for your professional career, giving me an impressive speech about how I could find out what area of work I was interested in the future and get a chance to put into practice what we had been learning in class.
And I thought: “I don’t know if any of this is true but if they can teach me to sell as well as he does, that’s enough” But AIESEC did much more than that.
2. What was your first role in the organization?
As a fresh new member we got assigned to be on an OC of a national conference for members that were preparing to go on exchange. The original OC taking care of the conference had resigned the role two weeks before the conference but we weren’t panicked because we had no idea that that was a bad sign Needless to say the OC worked pretty hard and we pulled through the conference – as AIESEC’ers somehow always do – becoming close friends in the process. But what most stayed with me from that experience were the few moments I got to sit in on sessions. I had never been to an AIESEC conference before so I had no idea what it was like. I didn’t really understand much, but there was a session with testimonies of Returnees (people that have come back from exchange and share what they went through) that really touched me. I will never forget the stories of those people: how far they travelled, what they learned and especially how much they missed it – the place, the people – no matter how challenging the experience had been. That day I heard one of the most repeated phrases I would ever hear from returnees: “I wish I had known about AIESEC sooner”. It made me feel lucky, but I didn’t yet know how lucky.
3. How did you perform in your first role?
“The best OC is that which no one knows exists” because delegates only look for the OC when something is missing, or wrong, or when they need something. We worked hard to be invisible that weekend and as I remember, we succeeded.
We mopped the floor at 6am, after the party, never missed morning roll calls and always kept the in-kinds stocked. It was my first glimpse of team spirit and taking care of the whole. It felt like very selfless hard work with an important, although understated, impact.
4. Did you ever quit the organization?
No, never. Although times were tough, and they often were, I never came close to quitting.
Some of that has to do with me personally, I’m too stubborn to quit. I like a challenge. But a BIG part of that has to do with the teams I was a part of. We had a close knit group and I wouldn’t think of quitting because I wouldn’t just be giving up on the organization, I would be letting down my team that was counting on me for support.
Plus, I learned early on in AIESEC that you have to be selfish with your life path decisions. Let me explain. In AIESEC, since the very start, we’re coached to challenge ourselves and be proactive, taking leadership roles and stepping up to responsibilities, but when things go wrong and situations feel hopeless – because there is always a “collapsando” moment in every term – those people aren’t there. You have to have your own reasons to be there. You have to be there because of you: for what you believe in! for what you want to achieve! Because those are the reasons that are going to give you the strength to get back up and try even harder.
5. What was your formula to take the most of the AIESEC Experience?
“The best time to change is before change is necessary”
Always do something that challenges you. If you’re not “pushing the envelope” in what you do, then you’ve become too comfortable and it’s time to change. This is where you try, test, experiment, and therefore grow, learn, challenge yourself, succeed and fail.
“Life is not the dress rehearsal”
Appreciate the moment. We get lost in deadlines, conferences and responsibilities, but there are always moments to sit quietly and value what you’re doing. Whether it be… in the back corner of a conference session while you watch for five minutes the magical impact you’re having on others… or taking a moment on the train ride home after reading sugar cubes to appreciate the friendships for life you may find.
Take a breath and let it sink in.
“Knowledge is never used up”
Absorb the knowledge around you.
- Alumni are some of the greatest story tellers you’ll ever meet. They are a well of experience and wisdom.
- AIESEC is at the top of its game. And you’ll find that out, realistically, when you start to work in a company. You become familiar with a lot of concepts that are still a novelty or unheard of in a lot of organizations.
- “AIESEC is people” is about the most cliché AIESEC expression there is, but it’s also the truest. You are constantly surrounded by extraordinary people with extraordinary life stories, partly because those are the kind of individuals AIESEC attracts, and partly because those are the kinds of experiences AIESEC enables.
6. What is your happiest moment in AIESEC and why?
Only one? Whenever I come across someone I find out is from AIESEC I immediately smile. Not because it’s courteous but because that is the first feeling that always surfaces when someone mentions the organization.
Any one of the questions I’m now answering brings back a flood of great memories. How can you choose from that?
The happiest moment is every success that makes you feel like you’ve just climbed to the top of the tallest mountain.
The happiest moment is when you recognize the growth of someone else through the example you have set.
The happiest moment is when you overcome against all odds and achieve while no one else believed.
The happiest moment is all the nights out with the team, just after you’ve wrapped a conference.
The happiest moment is all the conversations, over the years, that I have deemed “the most interesting of my life”.
All of them make up my happiest moment in AIESEC.
7. What is your saddest moment in AIESEC and why?
The scarce moments in which you get a glimpse of the other side of AIESEC; the moments when it’s not the dream, with only philanthropic value, it’s not the place where merit always wins over politics and hard work triumphs over malevolent gossip. Those moments kick you in the stomach and floor you.
But trust me when I say that those few saddest moments are only there to teach you and make you stronger.
8. Say something cool and motivational to the new members.
You have just embarked on the journey of a lifetime!
The people, the travels, the adventure and the growth you will experience here will stay with you forever.
The secret to achieving all of this? Wanting to.
It’s up to you to take the step of joining a team or applying for a position. Hard work? Yes, but the rewards greatly outweigh the investment.
Would you pass up the opportunity to be in an environment that fosters your creativity, the team experiences and the breakthroughs that help you identify what you want to do with your LIFE and make you better at achieving it?
I think not
9. Say something cool to the current leaders!
ACT! Don’t keep your dreams in a drawer.
You only get one chance at making a difference today, and your term has less days than you think.
ENJOY! You might think you’re working with templates and balance score cards but underneath the framework, what you’re taking away from this experience, for your life, is your development as an individual.
Make the deadline but don’t lose sight of what’s important!
10. What will you do now?
Since finishing my studies and my AIESEC career I have gone abroad and am now working in Germany within a global NGO that liaison with local governments around the world to implement sustainable development policies in their cities, from energy or eco-mobility to adaptation and resource management.
When I started to think about the kind of job I wanted, I realized I couldn’t go back to doing something where I wasn’t actively contributing toward creating.
AIESEC makes you answer questions about yourself seldom people your age are confronted with and even some adults have never honestly answered.
My experience increased my expectations and pleasantly burdened me with the responsibility of leading a purposeful life where I make a difference.
What do you think about Eva’s AIESEC xp? do you know her? leave a comment to her
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Hey guys!
in 
This time I’m interviewing Jasmer Dhingra, an AIESECer whos not done with the organization, actually she just had been elected External Relations Manager on AIESEC International 2010- 2011, so she still have a lot to do to keep us activating leathership in every AIESECer 
see you in the next interview.
My first interviewed is Alejandra Laiton, an AIESECer from Colombia who got to the top of the AIESEC Experience, from being an Intern-Buddy to manage the communications of a whole International Organization! I hope you guys like this new section and find some inspiration in Aleja’s words 
