To Be a Full Member =)

To Be A Full Member

- by Emad, from the MC Pakistan blog

AIESEC in Pakistan is a full member country - What does that even mean?

For 2 years, numerous people, many of whom will be forgotten in the pages of history, worked day and night with utmost commitment to have us see this happen in front of our own eyes. Every one of those 'members' made a difference in their own little but significant way. Each of them deserves the credit for it. This post has been long due. I write this with a lot of pride on behalf of every person that made this happen. I also write this with the gratefulness for having had the honour to be there where it happened. Let me describe some scenes from IPM 2007.

Global legislation takes place towards the end of IPM. One of the most inspiring and powerful moments before that is the elections for President of AIESEC International. It is also a moment of pride for those countries that have earned the right to make this decision.
Below you see the ballot for PAI voting in the hands of one such country. But it wasn't Pakistan. Not till then.

This was also a moment where we captured a rare occassion. A couple of MCPs that did not have a vote but still had a feeling of pride much larger - Because they had with them their successors, who would be able to have that ballot in their hand. Captured, you see myself and Gasper (MCP of AIESEC in Tanzania), and Nida and Stanley (MCPe of AIESEC in Tanzania) - Yes, there is much to smile about!

And then finally, the moment arrived. After a legislative session that lasted over 9 hours, it was time for global plenary to decide whether a country had earned the right to sit among them as full members. The membership subcommittee (that evaluates if membership criteria had been met) gave its recommendation, the MCP from the partner country AIESEC in India (Rishabh), spoke for the motion...

And the MCP elect of Pakistan said a few words...

And then like magic, everything transformed. AIESEC in Pakistan was given a unanimous vote to join the association.

And the celebrations began!

But what now...? So those people that got us here played their part. What is it that every member of AIESEC in Pakistan today going to do that is going to be at par with that achievement?

Everyone has their own answer to this, but for me it's quite simple: There's more to be done. Much more. Becoming a full member is a stepping stone, but there are more such steps that need to be created. And it will not be any easier. Every 'member' will have to play their own little but significant part for us to be able to build that next stone and many more will have to work even harder for us to climb it. Yet, in our everyday work, we often forget the contribution that our actions are making to the organization at large and how that adds to the impact each of us is having on ourselves and on the societies at large.

The year has started. You have all the tools that you need in order to be able to do a great job. All you need to do is exhibit commitment. You don't need people to tell you what to do or how to do it. The members that got us here certainly did a decent job, not having those people. The only difference is that now, you are ABLE to be able to find that information in order to maximize your learning, contribution and experience. But you see, at the end of the day, it is each of you that needs to drive their own experience - no one else will. So my recommendation to you is to get out there and fulfill the promise that was made to you by AIESEC; If you really think about it, you constitute AIESEC!

A dear friend of mine, a personal inspiration, and of course a key part of why we are here, Tori (MCP 05/06) used to mention something very simple: "The more you put into AIESEC, the more you get out of it".

Celebrate your achievements and use them as motivation to achieve more.

Cheers,

Emad