LC Gathering

What a cool AIESEC gathering!
Nabeel Khalid - http://nabeel.myaiesec.net

As Welly and I were busy printing posters for the SNRD Information Talk to be held two days later, we arrived 40 minutes late for the LC gathering [January 14th]. A Pakistani friend who had noticed a positive change in me as I became more and more actively involved with AIESEC work contacted me while I was still in the bus to PGP. He wanted to know what was 'up' and I told him about the LC gathering and he - being a senior but inactive AIESEC member - showed interest to accompany me. Alongwith him came his girlfriend who was also a senior-but-inactive AIESECer - she even signed up for my project's OC! So I'm glad I could help with member retention in NUS.

When we arrived, Gabriel was explaining the advantages and procedure for getting a mentor in AIESEC. I thought it is the best way to learn from the person that inspires you the most, and most certainly I have someone in mind already! Everyone needs a mentor you know...

Next, Imran noted down the names of all the non-OGX projects that had been initiated on a white board and each project head shared a little bit about the project and what kind of people they needed in their OCs. He himself is the instigator for three projects! Where do you find all that energy from, dear Imran?!

I also did some promotion for the Annual Stakeholders' Report [ASR] project and got down at least six people's names and contact information. The other projects that I remember are Shubhangi's Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] project, Khim's web-site programming course oc, and Adam's PBOX on entrepreneurship. I will surely be joining the PBOX. [It's what I went to Malaysia for - more on that later.]

As people headed out for the barbecue pit later, the OGX team had a short meeting with our VP Justina regarding the Information Talk [which, by the way, has already been held this Tuesday and was so 'bad' that the lecture theatre was jam-packed and there was no space to stand!] The MC team also held a longer meeting at about the same time.

It took a while for the fire to get started, but Khim really showed his prowess in barbecuing skills once the coal began to burn. I'll hire Khim any day if I hold a barbecue event! Meanwhile the OGX team held a photo-session till the time the camera's batteries ran out.

The chicken was delectable [sorry vegetarians!] yet it was the marshmallows that got bolted. While all this cooking and gobbling was going on at pit #2 in PGP, there was a team of seriously dedicated AIESECers working in a residence 2 kitchen. They prepared salads and sandwiches, which arrived shortly after the MC team arrived from their meeting.

Everyone was engrossed deeply in one conversation or another. They were always eating a piece of chicken or reaching out for a bag of tortilla chips. Or they were filling out a glass of sweet 'red-coloured-liquid' from the cooler. For me, it was really something special, as I really felt I belonged to the AIESEC family. I knew almost everyone, and I took the opportunity to get to know people I didn't know that well, or to know them even better. There wasn't any alcohol as this event was held inside the NUS campus, "which is a no-smoking, no-drinking campus", but I remember seeing Adam with a bottle of beer. What a cool I say! He had hopped on a bus to the nearest 7-11 to fetch one.

Oh and that is one of my new slangs that I hope becomes popular with time and one day travels the world - what a cool! The bad grammar is deliberate because it is what a cool!

I would just like to thank all the people for showing up at the amazing barbecue and a special thank-you to Ashwin and Khim for organising it. I'm sorry I had to leave easrly for another meeting, but I remember calling Song Jie at 11pm, and she was still at the barbecue pit alongwith many others! Wow! The gathering was what a cool, I say! What a cool!