Why this section? I have been observing the growth of the AIESECers around me. Because I know these individuals, I can see the transformation in them, and wanted to share with you their thoughts and what little steps they took to become who they are today. I hope this will provide some insight into what little steps you can take next on your life journey...
Meet Cathy,
a recent graduate from NUS currently based in Sao Paulo. In 2007, she travelled to India to work with an NGO. She returned to Singapore, and found herself volunteering with AIESEC. She later assumed a leadership position with the national team, overseeing the operations of the organization in the country. After completing her term with AIESEC, she opted for a management traineeship in Brazil with a Social Business Venture called Gastromotiva."Me llamo Cathy.
Meu nome e Cathy.
I graduated with a degree in Economics, groomed from a Pure Science background and worked in various industries, various sectors - banking, technology, Project management, risk, non-profit movement and management of an international student organization, nationally.
What’s next?
I didn’t know.
I simply lay my hands on myaiesec.net and applied for an internship, any internship abroad. And Artemisia crosses my sight and hence there I applied and now I am in Brazil doing financial planning for a gastronomy-related social business. Truly. What is all of these crazily random encounters about?
I just came back from an amazing sharing session with Artemisia trainees and coordinators. We shared a lot, all the way from why we are where we are today to our vision and plans for the future. I admit that my times at my workplace is not fantastic and may not have turned out to be as warm as I expected but these all so-called challenges just left a space for me – a space for me to really think and reflect on the same question.
What’s next?
I still do not know.
What I know is this. Wherever you are, whatever you do, you’ve got to enjoy and make the full out of every single moment and opportunities you have at the moment. That includes partying hard, meeting enough people, building enough networks, leaving enough impact and good impressions, paving a secure enough path for whatever that is ahead of you (whatever that is). It’s ok if it is not clear but so long that you fight a good fight, things will slowly emerge onto the surface and then you will know that you fought a worthy fight.
Right now I have tons of opportunity to network and to know so much about (social) entrepreneurship, of meeting amazing people with amazing vision about their lives, their works and the world – just like how Muhammad Yunus managed to shake the entire world with his selflessly noblest vision of making poverty history.
"The only place where poverty should be is in museums."
The personal dilemma for me is this. Two contradictory expectations (or maybe they aren't that much of a contradiction after all). One is the realistic expectation of securing a well-paying job which usually is the norm and another is to really utilize all these experience and opportunities that I, again, randomly grasped and to really go all out against the norm and start my own social business venture.
Unsure, but I have no choice but to continue my journey and fight a good fight to continue to bump around, searching and enjoying every single bit of the little time I have.
p/s: Why is it simply too much to be someone I am not? So I don't look back and regret for not having reacted in the way I would have had reacted or said things which I would have had said and above all, to have not forgone doing something which I know by my very nature would have done. You can only be young once. You can only be yourself once. They're compromisingly parallel.
And here, cheers to a greatly amazing journey ahead."
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