If you would tell this to Andreea from 5 years ago, she would be shocked. AIESEC gave me a place to belong and a place where I grew and developed while I was supported by amazing people who now are my closest friends or my role models.
1. Please tell us about your background and journey.
I was born in 1997 In Romania and during years I moved numerous times, getting the chance to live in 6 cities until now. As a teenager, I was pretty introverted and honestly a bit confused about what would make me happy or what is direction I should follow.
In 2015 though, everything started to change when I joined an NGO, Europe Direct Gorj, in my city. And later on, when I went to university, I found out about AIESEC in Timisoara.
Volunteering and especially being an AIESECer opened a new world for me and turned me into the person I am today. I started as a member and now, after 3 years and a few months, I am living in Bulgaria and I am the president of AIESEC in Bulgaria.
If you would tell this to Andreea from 5 years ago, she would be shocked. AIESEC gave me a place to belong and a place where I grew and developed while I was supported by amazing people who now are my closest friends or my role models.
The path of growing and becoming the best version of yourself is never easy and it requires you to get out there and face your fears and insecurities, to take a risk. AIESEC gave me a lot of opportunities and I think some of my best decisions in life are that I took these opportunities.
2. When did you decide that you want to join AIESEC?
I heard about AIESEC in my first year of university, but I was too anxious to join at that moment. In the second year of university, in 2017, I saw they are recruiting again and I didn't want to be that kind of person that always thinks ''what if'', so I went for it and I am so happy that I didn't miss it, I can't imagine how my life would look like now if I would have missed it.
Not long after I joined, I realized that I didn't just join an NGO, I joined a global community full of inspiring and interesting people that keep making me demand the best from myself. Joining AIESEC was one of those moments when you receive something you didn't even know you need so much.
3. What challenges did you face from your member term to you handling the current position as the MCP?
As I said, I truly believe that meaningful experiences are not easy, so during the years, there were plenty of challenges. I think the first one, that honestly now sounds kind of funny, was as a member to meet and guide through the city a couple of internationals that came to volunteer there for 6 weeks.
It was so new and it was scary to know that those people's experience is in your hands, that is up to you if this exchange will change their lives or they will leave home disappointed, it was the first moment when it got real, you know.
Then as you move forward in the organization the challenges start to be more and more difficult, such as taking my first leadership position, preparing my first team meeting, organizing an event, going to my first sales meeting with a company, delivering together with my team experiences for more than 100 internationals in one summer, organizing recruitment that can change how the organization will go further, doing a speech in front of 100 people.
Being a double-allocated Vice President for my Local Committee and fighting to leave a legacy that we are proud of or moving to a new country to lead all these people that you meet now for the first time and prove to them why you are worth being their leader.
I could go like this for a good couple of hours, but the point is that I started each of these experiences not knowing what should I expect, and every time the challenges were even harder than I expected, but you know what?! This is the beauty of it because I overcame all of them because I learned during the journey how to find the solutions I need, how to empower myself to not give up when things get a bit tough and how to empower others to do the same.
In AIESEC is not just about the end goal, it's about the challenging, fulfilling journey you are taking to reach that point. I wouldn't be who I am today without the people that led me, without the people I led, without all the meetings I had and all the tasks I did, without all the exchanges I delivered and all the challenges that I faced.
4. What advice do you have for every single AIESECer that is in his member term and wants to apply for leadership roles?
The best advice that I can give is to go for it. If it seems scary or things get too hard, that's exactly the moment you shouldn't give up because these moments are the ones when you grow the most and the ones that will be the most meaningful.
There is something I heard 2 years ago and couldn't be more true, AIESEC is going to give you as much as you give to it, you can't wait around for things to happen or for somebody to make it happen for you, it's totally up to you.
And use all the resources you have around you, talk with as many people as you can, learn from them, ask those "stupid" questions and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. AIESEC gave me so many things, from new skills to the first job I ever had, but it all happened because I went for it despite challenges or fears.
5. How do you balance your regular work/tasks in line with AIESEC's work?
Currently being the president of AIESEC in Bulgaria is my full-time job. To lead the organization at a national level means that for one year you are fully committing to the best of the entity you are in charge of, it means to put a lot of passion, time, and determination into what you are doing.
When I was part of AIESEC Timisoara as a volunteer in the leading team, I was also having a job, but this is one of the things that you learn, how to manage your time in the best way and to make everything work. Any other thing that we are telling ourselves is an excuse. We are all busy and life is a crazy ride year by year, but when you want something, you find a way to make things work.
6. With almost so many years of AIESEC aiming to complete UN's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, with the current economic crisis and people fearing to do exchanges due to Covid, exchanges being the core part of AIESEC, do you think AIESEC is still relevant in today's time?
Yes, AIESEC gives people a place to belong and develop, it gives hope in a better world and the chance for people to develop their leadership qualities, the potential is in everybody and here you have the chance to actually start fulfilling it. We may not be able to do the things we used to, but we are adapting every day and searching for new ways to fulfill our vision.
AIESECers are people that develop a certain set of skills and values, people that are trying to bring a positive impact through their actions, people that are for sure needed in today's world and that probably are going to be always needed.
We are watching the news about leaders that don't have any moral code or consideration for others every day in a lot of fields, so as long as this is a fact and as long as the world will face the problems that it is facing, AIESEC will be relevant.
7. Lastly, as the MCP, How do you think will AIESEC be in the year 2030?
I think that a lot of great things are coming for AIESEC, during last year we discovered a totally new side of us as an organization, we were put in a situation where we didn't have other option but to adapt and innovate and this brings the best things out of us.
In 10 years from now, I see AIESEC being more visible, being a voice that is making itself heard in the youth sector and with more relevant partnerships in the corporate and public sector. I see AIESEC delivering more and better leadership experiences and contributing to the main problems that our world is facing.
Our WHY will keep being the same, but we will work to improve our ways of doing things year by year and we will not give up despite all the challenges that society puts in our way. I see AIESEC continuing to fight for a positive change no matter the context.
If you are not an AIESECer, what are you waiting for?! Search the AIESEC office in your city and start your own journey. And even if it's not AIESEC, don't forget that this blue planet that we all share is your responsibility too, so take the first step in making it a better place in any way you can think of.
Andreea Dobre | President of AIESEC in Bulgaria
Interviewed By: Nishad Kinhikar
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