Ajla came to work for AIESEC Jyväskylä during February 2014 as a CEEDer, where she got to help our local committee with talent management. Here's what she had to say about AIESEC Jyväskylä as and LC and what she got to experience during her month as an AIESEC "intern".
MY
EXPERIENCE IN AIESEC Jyväskylä
"My
name is Ajla Šoše and I come from Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. I study Genetics and Bioengineering, and I have been an AIESECer
for more than three years. In AIESEC, I realized how much I can do to change my
society, how much we as young people can influence the world, how I can develop
myself and people around me, and more importantly – in AIESEC I found my true
friends, all around the world, who became my second family.
Throughout
these three years, I have worked in many teams – as a member of a team dealing with human resources of AIESEC Sarajevo, a member of a team organizing a local conference, as Vice President for Talent Management, and
then as National Education Manager, which is still my current role in AIESEC
Bosnia and Herzegovina. However,
I always wanted to experience CEEDership (Cultural Envoy for Exchange
Development), which I considered as crown of my AIESEC career and experience. I
saw this opportunity offered by AIESEC Jyväskylä, and I decided to apply, even
though I thought I had no chance. After I received an email from Anna, Local
Committee President, saying that I was elected as CEEDer, I was thrilled,
ecstatic, excited; it was all surreal to me and I could not believe it. One
month in Jyväskylä, in Finland, was like a dream coming true.
Finland
has always been so interesting to me; beautiful, yet so mysterious. But what
did I know about it? Well, pretty much nothing. I knew that it was a cold, cold
country, where people speak a funny language, a country with numerous lakes, a
country where Santa was born, and where they like heavy metal music. And that
was it. As much as I googled it, I knew that I could really get to know the
country and people once I got there. So I was just waiting for that February
1st in my calendar.
Once
I landed, my first impression was “well it's not that cold!“ (throughout my
stay in Finland, -2 was the lowest temperature), so I started regretting
bringing so many warm clothes (I was picturing myself going through the
snowstorm, with reindeer all around, with my eyebrows and eyelashes completely
frozen). Soon, I will realize that Finland is not such cold country as I
thought it would be – in any way. The common prejudice of whole Scandinavian
region is that people are very cold, reserved, who do not like to talk and
share anything and they like to be by themselves. As soon as I saw Anna on the
bus station, I knew that I was all wrong.
Jyväskylä
is an international student city, as well as the city of AIESEC Jyväskylä, so I had the
opportunity to spend time and work with people from all around the world – The
Netherlands, Turkey, China, Ukraine, Kenya, Greece, France. Apart from my
general job description, which was to assist in recruitment and other events
held by AIESEC Jyväskylä, we had a lot of free-time activities (sauna was
number one, of course!), and I also had the opportunity to meet students who
were studying in Jyväskylä by ERASMUS, thanks to my great roommate, Monika.
This global network is one thing that I value the most; now I have people from
all around the Europe, even the world, who I can stay with.
During
my stay, we organized the local conference – Local AIESEC Seminar – which was
held for potential new members. This opportunity provided me another
experience, which challenged me and made me to step out of my comfort zone; I
had the honor and great pleasure to chair this conference. During that time, I
bonded a lot with people I worked the most with – Anna, Talvikki, Piia, Kim and
Marianne. They have shown me once again why I am still in AIESEC, they inspired
me with their life experiences and challenges, and with them I lost every
single prejudice I had about Finland and the Finns. I am truly grateful for
this opportunity, and proud and happy that I can call them my friends.
I
fell truly, madly and deeply in love with this country; with everything about
it. I have never felt anywhere so safe and secure, and in the end, so accepted.
My friends told me that I would not have culture shock in Finland. Well, they
were wrong once again, just as I was. My culture shock was that everything is
so perfect, that everyone is so calm and polite (and I thought the Brits were
the best in this). I ate bread with raspberry jam and whipped cream on top in the
sauna, I made my first sushi, I drank the most expensive beer in my life, and
at the same time the most disgusting one, I realized that Moomins are from
Finland, that people go partying with overalls, I walked on the frozen lake.
The only thing I regret is not staying longer. One month was not enough to
experience everything I wanted, to explore, to travel, to spend more time with
those great people.
That
little country, far in the north, with cold wind and lot of snow, has a special
place in my heart. When I think about my time spent in Finland, I smile because
I know it was unique experience which changed me to some extent, which changed
my life perspective, which showed me how people from this country are special.
At times, it was a bit difficult to adjust, because I come from different
background, mentality, way of thinking and perspective. However, I realized
that not everything is what it seems like, that every country and every city
has a story to tell. This experience taught me that we should grab any
opportunity that comes along, it restored my faith to myself and made me proud
of who I am and where I come from.
Most
importantly, this experience taught me that nothing is impossible. I believed
that one girl from a small country cannot contribute to Finland in any way, but
I was wrong. I learned that dreams are never too big and
that there are no boundaries when we are passionate about something.
I
am grateful for this experience and all people who made every day of it special
and memorable. I always say that we will remember people and moments with those
people, and I am proud to say that I have a lot of stories to tell, true
friends I gained throughout this journey and I will cherish those memories
whole my life.
Finland
and Jyväskylä, we will meet again, I promise. I know."
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| Ajla (second from the left) at the mini LAS |
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