Nicky's thoughts, passions and adventures!

Nicky is back...

Hey hey - sowwie it has been so long! I found myself too busy, or too tired to update this blog for so long. So I'll try to commit to updating it weekly from now on.

So what's been happening?...

1. AWESOME 2006
2. Nostalgia...
3. Next steps with UNSW...


1. AWESOME 2006

This weekend just passed, my dream of running a splendid EB transition and member professional skills education conference was realised.

It was so challenging setting up this conference, learning about all the ins and outs of running a conference, problems with unexpected delegates numbers, writing agendas, organising facis and organisational logistics, running sessions, keeping the time and energy of the conference in tact, etc etc.

Yet, what a great feeling in the end, when it all came together and worked relatively well!

For me, personally, the most challenging and rewarding was improving my confidence and skill in facilitation and presentation of sessions. It will be my most treasured part of the conference. For the first time, I felt exceptionally energised and comfortable in running a session, and trust me when I say I ran I mammoth 6 hour simulation session - pretty much day 3 of the conference :)

What a learning curve! I have discovered one of my passions and ideas for what I would love to do in the future is training. I would LOVE to do training and leadership development sessions as a potential career in the future. There is something so scary, so exposing about getting up and presenting a session. You have no where to hide, no where to turn...It is only you, your audience and your voice ( and if you are an AIESECer, a powerpoint).

Yet, beyond this scariness, there is also an element of liberation. To be able to facilitate a session with minor nerves ( especially when I used to be petrified!) shows personal development, shows that I have developed my self-confidence, that I am perhaps more at ease with myself.

And beyond this liberation, there is satisfaction. Satisfaction because others have taken a lot of learning and happiness out of a session I ran, is truly amazing. To receive sugarcubes with people thanking you for your session, and its impact on those people, is just an awesome feeling. Makes the scariness of the event seem even a little less daunting.


2. Nostalgia
So, in the aftermath of AWESOME, I sit here feeling satisfied...but also a little sad, a little nostalgic. As the year 2006 draws to a close, it has just dawned on me that this great year is nearly gone, over, and I am mourning its passing already.

This year has been a major life-changing year for me - I have developed and grown so much over this time, have matured, have developed greater self-confidence, and have pushed myself in many different ways.

I have found out that I am really passionate about HR, about training, and about empowerment and thus, have seen a future clear direction for me in my working life, have found out what I love and what I want to do :)

I have worked with an amazing group of people in my EB team, under a wonderful leader of Lucy in AIESEC Sydney. Yet, am feeling sad at the loss of our working together.

I have worked with an amazing PD team and have felt so much pride about the people in it and the team itself. I have developed so much in terms of leadership capacity and have learnt more about my personal strengths and needed improvements.

I have grown.

I have developed.

I have achieved a heightened sense of self - of self-awareness, of self-confidence.

I have been challenged.

I have been rewarded with great team experiences.

I have experienced internationalism with my AP conference in March and with all the amazing intern arrivals and learnings since the year began.

Yet, it it is all about to end - well actually has ended. No longer the PD director of AIESEC Sydney, no longer an EB director of AIESEC Sydney, no longer a member of AIESEC sydney - No longer AIESEC Sydney.

Strange feeling - no longer AIESEC Sydney. Sounds silly, doesn't it... that I am caught up on 2 little words, well...one an acronym...AIESEC Sydney. hmm..

Yet, those 2 words in the past 2 years have actually meant: fun, challenge, great people, team experiences, development, personal growth, international experiences, pride, team leader, EB director, interns, HR, learning, engagement, impact, experiences, life-changing, facilitation skills, identity, happiness, passion.

Passion and happiness. What a great year!

So, perhaps that it is then - no longer AIESEC Sydney -that is the source of my nostalgia. AIESEC Sydney is the place where my passion and drive for AIESEC was creater, the culture that suported this, the people that inspired this, the LC that framed this passion.

Change is often scary.

It is sad to let go at times.

This is what I am feeling a little now.

No matter what I do in AIESEC in the future, I will always, first and foremost, be AIESEC Sydney - it has a special place in my heart and in my spirit .

Yet, sometimes, we need to let the things we hold dear go, so that we can have an impact on something else.

Such is the situation I now find myself....


3. UNSW

So, in 2007, I will be heading up an expansion project into UNSW for AIESEC. This scares me and excites me at the same time. Scary because it is such a challenging quest and I will be deeply affected and involved with this every step of the way.

Yet it is also exciting.

Exciting because I have a chance to make a legacy. I have the opportunity to rebuild AIESEC in a place it simply has to be.

Exciting because I have the chance to build the right culture, the right attitude, the best group of people and the most challenging and personally gratifying environment for myself and my future UNSW members.

Exciting because I have the opportunity of sharing the amazing experiences of AIESEC with a whole campus and providing other students with the opportunity for a life-changing and challenging experience.

Exciting because I have the opportunity to not only expand AEISEC's reach throughout the region and thus contribute greatly to the NSW region, but also because I have the opportunity to contribute to the nation and to really help AIESEC reach its 2010 vision in Australia at least.

This venture will take every piece of me. I can see it happening. It may not be healthy - which is something I will have to watch.

So...I guess to summarise my state of being right now, I am feeling nostalgic for the closure of 2006, excited yet I guess even a bit cautious of the adventures to come in 2007.

Can I hit my goals, I wonder?
Will UNSW be back with a vengeance by the close of 2007?
Will I be able to lead UNSW towards such aims and greener pastures?
Can I do it?

Can I do it?

I'm not sure if I am the right person to do this massive task set out for me to do. I am often thinking they picked the wrong person for it.

Yet, now that I have this task to do, I am going to give everything I have to give to achieve this task, to rebuild UNSW AIESEC because I love the opportunities AIESEC has given me, and I want to share this with other young future leaders.

So, with this post, I bid farewell to AIESEC Sydney. I mean, yeah, I will be in the same city, I will still be in close contact with its members.We have had some great times, challenging times, sad times, empowering times, extraordinary times.

AIESEC Sydney, thank you for 2 great years. It has changed my life.

AIESEC Sydney - truly AMAZING!

Well, AIESEC UNSW, it is time to start the year ahead, I wonder what year we will have, what we will experience, and what we will see in the end.

It is time for me to create a legacy, and to leave something truly amazing for AIESEC New South Wales regionally for future years.

It is time for a legacy.

It is time to be inspired.

It is my time.

It is UNSW time.

UNSW is coming back :) Watch this space!

hugs Nicky
( cue inspirational music in the background and epic movie scene - aka. Nicky standing on a massive mountain, wind dancing through Nicky's hair, sun shimmering on face... the extraordinary can happen, if you just believe) :P

posted by Nicky @ 10:59 PM