I have joined AIESEC in October 2005 as a short term member of the Outgoing Exchange’s Change IT Project. Later, I have also built some skills in the People Development area, while being an active member of the department. After taking part at an Exchange Preparation Seminar, I applied for a traineeship on insight, and got selected for being System Administrator in Bonn, at AIESEC Germany’s National Committee Office.

In Germany, I have met a great team of AIESECers that welcomed me better than I expected, and also had the chance to meet other 50 trainees from all over the world, most of them working for Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom, also in Bonn. With them, I took part at different reception weekends in Berlin, München, or Aachen, travelling and discovering the German culture.

My work was very challenging, professionally and also culturally. First try to imagine handling seven servers in the same time, then imagine all the IT software being in German, with me being a novice German speaker.

After two months, I got to handle work pretty well, and also got the responsibility of setting up the entire IT infrastructure as at national conferences in Germany.

In January 2007, I was selected for IT teamster at AIESEC International Presidents Meeting in Egypt. There, I was responsible for IT for the conference, while creating friendships with great people from over 90 countries. At the end, I went with the conference team for a study tour through Egypt, exploring the great treasures of the country while also having lots of fun.

At the end of my traineeship in Germany, I was proposed to be chair in a new member’s conference in Bonn. I have accepted the offer, and enjoyed coordinating a three days conference, building up some presentational skills.

AIESEC had a great impact in my life. First, it offered me a set of skills that I definitely needed not only for my traineeship, but for life in general. Then, it offered me an international experience, exposing me to tens of different cultures. I have also grown professionally during my traineeship, adding up all sorts of skills on my list while actually travelling, having fun, and networking with other people from all over the world.