My AIESEC exchange experience has surely been one of the best experiences of my life. Words cannot describe the awesomeness of the time I had but this is perhaps the only lifeline I have to convey my thoughts. I was extremely lucky to go on exchange to UK to work with Alcatel-Lucent Telecom a global leader in telecommunications. Upon landing in UK I was welcomed by AIESECers already working there. I was given the apartment of another EP who was on holiday for a week. This is where I fell in love with AIESEC all over again!! I had not even met the guy but just by knowing that I was an AIESECer he had left his whole apartment to me to use freely!! On moving in the first thing I saw was a note on the table telling me various things such as what was in the fridge, how to connect to the internet, directions to the nearest shopping area and loads of other information that was extremely useful in helping me settling down. At night I was invited out for a welcome dinner. Hence, instead of getting home sick I began to start thinking of this as a second home. I wondered if this was the beginning how would it all end??!! Little did I know this would turn out to be one of the best times of my life!!
At Alcatel-Lucent, the work atmosphere was absolutely amazing. My manager and all my colleagues were extremely nice and very helpful in settling me down. Right from day one I was treated as a full time employee and shared equal work responsibilities with all members of the team. Not once did I feel out of place that I was on a traineeship. Furthermore, just the feeling of working in a leading multi-national in UK for a fresh graduate like me was like a dream come true!!
It was not just about work. Along with work also came a lot fun. That’s perhaps the best part of an AIESEC exchange that ‘fun’ and loads and loads of it, is just bundled together with the whole package!! Every weekend all the trainees would organize one activity or the other. There was hardly a weekend at which I stayed at home. We travelled all around UK and did loads of crazy stuff together!! I went bungee jumping with one trainee and skydiving with another!! I also made international trips to Ireland and Switzerland!! The energy and enthusiasm of other AIESECers just keeps you constantly on the move!! Someone comes up with a plan, others add to it and there you go - boom!! You are all set for another fun-packed weekend!!
Lastly, the most valuable and life- long take away that I got from this exchange was the asset of invaluable friends from all over the world. Just buy virtue of this exchange I now have a home to walk in to in more than ten countries of this world. Apart from this the learning about different cultures has been tremendous as day in and day out you are moving around and interacting with different people from all over the world. In short I would say an AIESEC exchange should be one thing that must be at the top of every ones “To Do” list in life. Now that I have Exchanged the Experience I hope you will Experience the Exchange!!
Aziz Jafri
