AIESEC Future Leader: A Journey after Graduating
In mid-October 2023, I began my journey as a Coach at AIESEC Future Leaders by AIESEC in UNS along with 11 other people. This experience served as an extension of my desire to persevere my personal development after graduating. I acknowledged then that I was not a type of a lone wolf, and that I needed a group of people with similar aspirations. This role, as this writing will detail, became a channel for my pursuit of personal development.
Before delving further, I believe it’s essential to explain what AIESEC Future Leader is for readers unfamiliar with it. AIESEC Future Leader is a three-month leadership and youth development program held by the designated Local Committee of AIESEC. This program empowers youth, mostly freshman and sophomore students, to be included in groups where they can develop several skills and personal development. It offers a few undertakings, including bi-weekly sessions, coaching sessions, networking space, and some other special activities.
As a Coach, my responsibility was to lead a group of 5 individuals (we called them Coachees) and provide regular coaching sessions after each bi-weekly session. In my almost-four-months in this role, I have conducted four coaching sessions, including two 1-on-1 sessions, and arranged a personal coaching tracker. Each of these activities has a unique story and aspiration behind it, which I intend to elaborate and share in my future writings.
Now we move to the question: why is AIESEC Future Leaders? To answer this, I would like to explain my initial objectives and identify why AIESEC Future Leader is the perfect platform for me. First, as mentioned in the first section of this writing, I sought to continue my journey of developing my personal growth. This can be detailed as focusing on person-to-person and external communication, decision-making, leadership, and engagement skills.
Second, I think those mentioned skills were the wistful longing I had after finishing my bachelor’s degree as I was no longer part of any community nor could be labeled as anything but a graduated student of an X university. For the past 4 years of my uni life, I was always attached to something or some group and the longing doubled as I was still finding out what I wanted to pursue as a graduate student.
Being a Coach in AIESEC Future Leaders means that I will lead and assist a group of people, helping them to find out the desire they want to pursue for the rest of their campus life, even better after they have graduated. The positioning of my role in this program addressed my first objective. Yet, with many development platforms available, AIESEC Future Leaders appealed to me for personal reasons.
First, AIESEC played a crucial role in shaping most of the soft and hard skills I possess today. As a freshman, I didn’t have many skills to begin with and AIESEC, through its people, helped me to gain some skills that were very advantageous for my next experiences. Second, I had previously been a Coach in the same program, but my first participation left me unsatisfied. My intention to make it better was reflected by this second-time participation in that role.
As a Coach, I undeniably gained the skills mentioned earlier. Working with five individuals in my group enhanced my person-to-person communication skills, as each coachee had a unique personality and communication style. Not a single complaint I had as I grew interested in understanding people more. Understanding and bridging communication between my group and AIESEC’s internal team improved my ability to position myself and communicate effectively.
Furthermore, coordinating sessions with my group required efficient leadership and decision-making skills, given the geographical distance and varied responsibilities. I saw this as an opportunity to hone these skills.
Despite owning my first objective, I also gained some unexpected skills including nurtureship and behavioral analysis. I think it has been a while since I was fond of nurtureship and this opportunity gave me nothing but a realization and a chance to improve it. It clicked in me when I held the third coaching session. Additionally, I believe that I consciously develop an analysis of their behaviors. This experience allowed me to understand each coachee’s aspirations, needs, and how I can share a bit of my little knowledge with them.
While writing this, I had my prejudice that some of you might underestimate the significance of these skills or their role in my personal development. However, this experience has brought me far, helping me rediscover a small part of my life aspiration and bringing me one step closer to the perfection I want to become. For me, this was a huge progression in my life and a compass guiding my next steps in both my personal and professional life. To put it simply, I regained a bit of my self-awareness, something I had lost for a year or more.
I can not be merrier than what I am today because of this experience. I aspire to be part of social impact and bring more positive transformation to the community. To readers who are uncertain about your aspirations in life, I would recommend you to try social engagement either through mentorship, community service, or any social activity you find interesting. But always note that people are dynamic, what works on me can work or not work on you.
This journey has been a small part of my life, and I believe I will always change and my future aspirations might be different from what I am having now. But I will enjoy it every second like fireworks.
