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Leadership
I'm back from MyLDS 2012. It has been a hectic yet awesome week spent with unique and inspiring AIESECers around the globe. The conference really opened up my mind to different perspectives. Each and every AIESECer has their own story to tell. It was a life-changing experience for me. Thank you to the Chair, Facilitators, Organizing Committee Members and everyone present there. Thank you for making it happen. :)
It's suit up day! Everyone was dressed formal in suits for our first ever Youth to Business Forum in Malaysia. We were very lucky indeed to have this during MyLDS 2012. We had invited a few guest speakers from Nippon Paint, Accenture Malaysia and ING. After Galdys from Nippon Paint gave her keynote speech, we were broken up into 3 different sessions. All three workshops ran concurrently. I registered for the Nippon Paint workshop on Innovation. We each received a free cute little Blobby too! We were given a case challenge study on a corporate social project. I was the team leader for the team. Quite surprised that they picked me. Using my skills and what I learned throughout the conference, I was glad that I led well. We won a consolation prize. Just realized I didn't take a team photo with my awesome team.
Next, we had our forum with the four guest speakers from AIESEC alumni, ING, Accenture and Nippon Paint. They shared with us on leadership, innovation, passion, branding and etc. And they concluded our first Youth to Business forum.
We then headed back to the hostel to prepare for our most anticipated night - Gala Dinner with the theme Rock N Roll. Everyone was dressed up for the dinner. It was a buffet style dinner in some nearby restaurant. I can't really remember the name of the place.
Ended the night with my parents driving me back home. So sad. :(
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| Growing that mustache |
By this day, everyone was dead tired due to lack of sleep the day before. We were supposed to get up early to wait for a chartered bus for photo shooting near the mosque. It's Kodak Moments time! It means camwhore. With our newly bought LC shirt, we took off.
It's Kodak Moment time! It means camwhore. With our newly bought LC shirt, we took off.
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| Our LC shirt is AWESOME! :D |
We took more photos while waiting for our turn!
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| TMers! |
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| Let's climb higher! |
Then, we headed back to the plenary hall for punishments! Next up, we had our Big Rock Challenge Part 3. Nothing really challenging for that part. Basically to recap and reflect on what we had done for the past 2 days. More to serv as a feedback session.
After lunch, we had TED talk by our first Malaysian to enter AIESEC International. She is currently working in Groupon Malaysia with other youths. She shared with us her awesome experiences., truly an inspiration to many.
After dinner, we had a talent show! I laughed my ass off in this talent show. People were so funny yet they have amazing talents. There was a guy who did eyebrow dancing, some people danced and some sang. The twins did a mirror show. Everyone's performances were awesome!
It's Valentines Day today! Love is in the air yo. To all those couples out there, I wish you all the best in your relationship. Be nice to your partners today! <3 More Square dances again in the morning. They called us to do our LC roll call. Many of the LCs had their Valentines version of roll call. Super cute. UUM even wore pink for girls and blue for boys!
Then we had our skills training workshop. This time it was a back to back workshop. I registered for Project Management and Effective Marketing classes. Project Management was conducted by Alaa. Learned something new like using the Work Break Down Structure (WBS) to plan for projects. Hopefully, I could practice this for my future projects. Next class was on effective marketing by Yuh Jye. I learned that when you do marketing, you have to list down the marketing mix such as the product you are selling, the price, promotion offered and place you selling the product.
Later, we had another TED talk by Roslan, a social entrepreneur. He shared with us his stories about social businesses. Later we played a game called "Exchange something more valuable". We had to exchange an ordinary pen for something more valuable. I don't really know what happened, with a blink of an eye, my leader got a credit card. WOW.
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| Showing off our Dominoes Card we exchanged! :) |
Next up, we had our Big Rock Challenge Part 2. We had to come out with a Social Business Idea using our topic given on the previous day that is Child Exploitation. Thanks to my awesome members who threw in lots of ideas, we managed to come out with an idea pretty fast. I won't go into details what our ideas were. Basically, we wanted to have a farm planting vegetables and also a shelter home for the underprivileged children.
At night, we had our Global Village Valentines edition, displaying around 10 countries around the world. Every LC was in charged of a country booth. LC TU was doing Morocco. We also had free Morroco dessert. Some orange juice thingy.
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| Our team managing Morroco! :) |
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| Our Board! |
All in all, it went well. A big thanks to Elleen! She did a great job in organizing! And also to the belly dancers, you girls were awesome! :) The night ended with more square dances again.
Woke up to the alarm of my phone and got ready for breakfast outside the plenary. We started off with some LC square dances. They were awesome. Next, we started our first lesson on skills training. I picked Effective Analysis for my morning class. What I learned in that session was how to make effective decisions. To solve a problem, you first have to consider different factors and alternatives. I learned that everyone in the team has a different perspective of seeing things and there is no right or wrong answer. Once we were done, we went back to the plenary hall for our 2nd TED talk by Chris Tan on team formation. This guy is unique and daring to be different. He is an author of the book "The Journey Of The Green Sugar Merchant". What I learned is to give and take. Only by allowing yourself to win, you allow yourself to win more. Before a speaker goes on stage to speak, give a standing ovation. Encourage them to speak better!
Let me share a quote from Chris Tan.
"Life is never a still photo but an award-winning drama series that never end as long as you are breathing."
This quote says that you should change yourself first before the world changes you! If you don't make a choice, you are actually allowing the situation to choose for you. And also always use the word "I" instead of "We". Give yourself the authority and power!
Another thing that inspired me is the concept "GAP" that he shared with us. Sometimes in life, we should take a GAP before we continue. Gap here means take time of in making the right decision. Do not rush things.
After lunch, we had our 2nd session on skills training. I went for the Personal Effectiveness class. Nothing really new here. Most of its contents are like a wake-up call for me. I should not procrastinate!
Next, our Big Rock Part 1! 10 topics were flashed on the screen and each team leader has to bid for their own topic. Our leader Suezy bid for Child Exploitation. in 70 minutes, we have to do our research and come out with information to showcase our topic.
Initially, our team was quite kelam kabut. Everyone was doing the same thing and some don't even have things to do. However, after 10 minutes, we settled down and divided ourselves into different groups in charged of different things. I thank God that we managed to pull through this. Give ourself a Big Clap!
After dinner, it was Valentines Eve Night. We had something called "Speed Dating". Every 8 minutes we have to talk to someone the opposite sex. I felt kinda awkward at first but after awhile it wasn't too bad talking to a stranger. I made many new friends that night. Tiring night but I'm looking forward to Day 3!
Upon my arrival, I was greeted by energetic and hyperactive AIESECers doing their roll calls and singing Happy Birthdays. At about 9 am, some MCs came out of the plenary hall and invited us into the hall with welcoming arms and greetings. As soon as we enter the hall, it was pitch black and we were greeted by loud music and cheers by the Facis and MCs. Everyone was cheering to the beat of the music. The opening plenary really surprised me but it was awesome! Then, the Chair, Brandon introduced himself and the facis to us. We then played ice breakers by finding people with the same shoe color and same birth month! After that, we were separated into our groups that stayed throughout the conference.
My group name is DREAMERS!
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| They were one AWESOME team :) |
Our first TED talk is on the topic Leadership. Here are some questions to ask yourself.
- Do leaders need to be born into certain families?
- Do leaders need to be charismatic?
- Do leaders need to speak well?
- Do leaders need to be of higher IQ?
- Do leaders come from the best schools?
- Do leaders have the most certifications?
Up for you to decided whether those questions are a Yes or No. "Just do it!" This phrase alone caught my attention. Having the leadership potential is nothing if you don't take action to improve yourself.
After lunch, we were introduced to team building games. Though tiring but we had fun! Unfortunately, it rained near the end and we had to stop. Our team didn't manage to complete all the 10 stations. The last station was in the plenary hall. We were supposed to make a tower using only toothpicks and chezels without any form of verbal communication. Challenging eh!
Fast forward to after dinner. Choi San in the house! Kar Teck disguised himself as Prosperity God and gave out Angpaos which are made out of Seed Bucks and Badges. I think this is where we got so many Seed Bucks. :)
It was a tiring day and I hope Day 2 would be more awesome! :)
I would be off from college for one week to go for this conference. I am super duper excited to go for MyLDS 2012 with the theme S.E.E.D- Self Empowerment and Exponential Development. This would be my very first national conference in AIESEC. I am hoping to experience something beyond my imagination as well as to meet people from all parts of Malaysia and the world.
The theme alone attracted me. Self Empowerment. What does it mean to me? To me, it means to give myself the power, to free myself from all obstacles and watch my life change for the better. I hope to give myself the life I dream for.
It took me long to decide whether I should go for this conference and forgo my one week of classes in college. It was a tough decision for me. Nevertheless, I registered for this. I believe this 1 week of conference is way beneficial than attending my 1 week of classes in college.
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul.Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.-Pamela Vaull Starr
I know I won't regret going at all! I am there to EXPERIENCE, to LEARN, to DEVELOP, to CHANGE and to HAVE FUN! I know it is going to be LEGEND.....wait for it.....DARY!