if you want to exchange your shirt...

I'm sitting in the morning plenary and someone is making announcements.
"For those who want to exchange their t-shirts, we will meet tonight at 7 at the fountain..."
For a second the image flashes through my mind of loads of people standing at the fountain taking off their t-shirts and putting on one from someone else. What an amusing thought. And it's cute somehow. Of course that's not what is meant with this announcement, but still, I come to think that there are probably not that many organisations around who get together at a huge international congress and have an announcement in the morning that starts with "For those who want to exchange their t-shirts..."
AIESEC is a young organisation. Not by it's existence, since it's 60 years old, but by the people who run it. And it feels good to work for an organisation that is entirely run by students. You can feel it, there is a young spirit in everything that is not afraid of changing things, innovative, fun loving, active, idealistic, energetic no matter how long we have been existing for. I believe that this in fact is one of the main reasons why I enjoy working for AIESEC so much.

IC made me think about AIESEC a lot. It was an intense experience (and a looong one, man, 2 weeks of conference...) so naturally, I started to review what has happened in the past 2 years for me in AIESEC, if I'm happy about it, how do I want this to continue and how do I feel about being in that organisation in general.
IC made it clearer for me. Surprisingly though it wasn't because of sessions or workshops. The content was alright but not overwhelming. It was the little details that made me see how much I like being in AIESEC, just like the t-shirt exchange announcement.
Another key moment happened at parties. The best thing to do was to hang out with the other middle eastern people (we are a rather small group in the network). We would form circles and dance, for most, without alcohol, and it seemed to me that we were the ones who had the most fun. I know for me, these where the best moments of the party, and I realized how much what I'm doing in AIESEC has changed my perspective of the middle east and of the Arab/Muslim culture.

It was a good choice I made, to take one year off and work full time for this organisation. It's not only a valuable and challenging work experience but I very much enjoy what I'm doing.

Don't draw the conclusion now, that I'm planning to add another year. I'm not. I'm happy with what I'm doing and this is what I wanted, but not more. This will be it. I'm quite sure.