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The GoodLetter Thursday, October 24, 2002
GoodThings, Inc. :: Stories, actions, ideas, and greeting cards that connect us.
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Greeting Card of the Week
Favorite GoodThings: Now as Birthday Cards!
We're happy to announce that we've done something new with our Favorite GoodThings cards that have been so popular with so many of you. Eight of the cards (including the one at the right) are now available as birthday cards, featuring a special GoodThings birthday greeting on the inside. Please take a minute to visit our site to see which ones you can now send as birthday greetings!
Consider sending a GoodThings "Happy Birthday" with someone you know. Every card you buy and send helps broaden awareness of progressive actions and ideas around the world. (We print all our cards on recycled paper using soy ink.)
Please visit our online store today by clicking here or on any card
IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR HOLIDAY CARD ORDERS IN! If you think customized GoodThings Greeting Cards like the ones pictured above would be perfect for your non-profit organization or company -- or even your family -- to use for the holidays, send an e-mail to cards@goodthings.com and ask us about our card customization program and volume discounts.
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Click the card to see it enlarged or to order
Front (of above card):
Favorite Things: Autumn-colored trees. Reading good books. Friends you have a long history with. Sitting on the beach. Unconditional love. The smell of fresh-baked bread. Hugs for no reason. Early mornings. Cold crisp watermelon on a hot day. Being passionate about a cause. Uncontrollable laughter. (Sharon, Oregon)
Inside (of above card):
Hope your year is full of good things. Happy Birthday!
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This Week's Feature
Make Friends, Not War
A GoodThings interview with AIESEC's Honorata Broniarz
Throughout the world, uneasy relationships exist between those who have lived their lives in certain communities and those who have only recently moved in from other places, even other countries. But every day, international exchange students offer a positive story: they're starting new lives in strange places, building extraordinary bridges across cultures, and learning what it means to share "one world."
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Dear GoodLetter readers,
Here at GoodThings, we believe wholeheartedly in celebrating the shared humanity that makes life on this planet so extraordinary. Every day, the news is full of examples that counter this simple idea, but we've been determined to continue finding stories and examples that strengthen our belief that in spite of all of our differences, we all have the world in common.
We've discovered many organizations since we first began publishing that are dedicated to fostering the same notion, and we've shared them with you by introducing you to the real people behind them. We recently had an opportunity to learn about an international organization called AIESEC (the 54-year-old group now goes by its acronym now, but it originally stood for the French phrase "Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales"). Since it was founded in 1948, AIESEC has enabled over 800,000 worldwide members from 83 countries -- all college students -- to gain substantive career and cultural experience while traveling the world. Student members have the opportunity to live independently in foreign countries and are able to develop real job skills while becoming immersed in cultures other than their own.
Earlier this year, GoodThings spoke with Honorata Broniarz, a college student from Poland and an AIESEC member, about her experiences with the organization throughout the world. Honorata spent much of the past year on an AIESEC internship in the United States.
We hope you enjoy learning about AIESEC while experiencing Honorata's passion, energy, and youthful wisdom as much as we did.
~~~~~~~
GoodThings (GTS): Is this your first time in the United States?
Honorata Broniarz (HB): Yes. People are always asking me how I expected it. But things are very rarely the way you expect them to be. I'll take what a city will give me, what the country will give me. You think the US will be a bit like the Hollywood movies, but I've learned that life is not a movie. The best thing is that I can communicate with people. Once you can do that, you can get used to everything.
GTS: Were you worried about coming to the US after September 11?
HB: It kind of scared me as an AIESEC'er. You live trying to fight your stereotypes. One day not so long ago, I was on the bus to work and there was a guy who appeared to be a Muslim. I noticed that I kept staring and staring at him. I thought, "Oh no! What's this world coming to?" September 11 was the day when I really doubted the benefit of AIESEC. AIESEC had been founded in 1948 to prevent war, to prevent things like September 11. But since then, my hope has been restored that one day people will understand that killing each other does not solve problems.
GTS: How did you hear about AIESEC? Was it through your university?
HB: The first time I heard about it was when I was in high school. Once every year, AIESEC has something that's called the International Congress. People from all AIESEC countries come along and elect a president of AIESEC International, have fun, think of helping people through AIESEC, things like that. I heard about it when it was in Poland in 1996. I thought, "Wow! When I finally go to university, I'll do it!" The idea of people from all countries coming together in different countries sounded wonderful.
GTS: The organization is essentially student-run. How do AIESEC students tend to work together or interact?
HB: In Poland, we do several extra activities. In Poland, we can't afford telling someone who's participating in AIESEC, "Well, sorry but you don't fit in." But we're very aware and tolerant and try not to discriminate against anyone. Still, we might have someone who's doing nothing and won't talk to other people. Other people will see the way he acts and that's how they'll think about the organization. We try to build something we call the "AIESEC feeling." We have AIESEC conferences where we have dances. They'll play a song and suddenly 150 people from like 20 countries, who've never seen each other before, are dancing to the same song! To me, that was really special.
We have career days, and we do lots of different activities and get the companies to come. The latest project in my chapter was to do the training center for incoming students. We're a learning organization, so you basically return your knowledge to the new people. In the three years I've worked with AIESEC, I've learned a lot more than I really learned in my university.
In Poland, we organize something that we call "Reception Weekend." One local committee organizes a weekend for trainees. They come from all over the country and we show them the city. We do what regular students do all over the world -- those things are not that much different! It's just that you get to know different people and you get to see some new places.
GTS: So you're training some of the students that are coming over now?
HB: Yes, mainly those that are planning to join AIESEC. Some of us show them how it works, why it pays, how it happened, what we do, how we do it. We train them in lots of areas -- how to read body language, negotiating, things like that.
GTS: That's very important as you move from country to country, culture to culture.
HB: That is so true! The AIESEC internship is called different names in different countries, but generally you have to go through a kind of cultural preparation seminar. We tell people that different countries have different styles -- something that's very common and perfectly fine in one country may seem a little strange in another.
The fun thing with AIESEC is that everyone's encouraged to go away and experience it. For over a year in Poland, I was responsible for incoming trainees, so I had to help them with getting their apartments, things like that, and then try to provide them with some after-work activities. It was so amazing to work with people from all different cultures, and the thing I liked most was to be able to see Poland through their eyes. There's a lot of things that you don't see when you live in your country. They're so obvious to you.
And with AIESEC, you develop great friendships. Before coming to the US, I went on scholarship to Germany, and there were lots of students from Ghana. One day I was talking to one of them -- I always talk a lot about AIESEC because it's had a huge influence on my life. I was talking to them and telling him, "Oh, we had a trainee from there, or we had to delegate a conference from there, or I went there." And then he says, "Wow! You know people from all the continents!" and I was like, "Oh, my God, you're right!"
GTS: Talk a little bit about the positive ways AIESEC has affected you.
HB: I was always an open person, but you have to break a lot of things that stop you sometimes. It made me even more outgoing, more open to people, and more willing to learn. I learned a lot about people, a lot about different cultures -- I learned a lot of English! If you speak English every day for three years, then it's hard not to! When I talk to my friends who knew me before AIESEC, they say it's been a big change in my life.
It has taught me a lot to accept a lot in people, and it has taught me patience. Not only has it taught me to be patient. A lot of times, you don't see changes in yourself. I think I may have always been this way, but I didn't have much chance to show it. AIESEC gave me that chance. The best thing is that I met a lot of amazing people. You learn a lot of good things and meet a lot of people you'll probably never forget.
GTS: What is your job during your internship?
HB: I'm doing tax returns at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) for people coming to work in the US and US citizens that go on assignment abroad.
GTS: So it's beyond AIESEC.
HB: Yes, usually the internship has nothing to do with AIESEC. We've got three types of internships -- we've got a management internship, a traineeship exchange program, and a management traineeship, which is strictly business-related. Usually the deal is they have to be paid to enable the student to pay for a house or apartment and to be able to travel at least a little bit. Your internship has to be at least two months long so you really have a chance to get to know the culture.
The organization started after World War II because some young people thought that they could do something positive to respond to it. They knew it would always be young people -- like those who participate in AIESEC -- who will be the ones making future decisions in the world. Perhaps because of experiences they have through AIESEC, future leaders will never make a decision to go to war with another country because they will have friends in that country from their internships.
GTS: Do you believe that AIESEC can really make a difference?
HB: AIESEC would love to be able to go to Palestine or Iraq or countries where, if you talk about AIESEC values and things, you can get arrested or killed. It's hard to get in there and show people, but you have to try. You can't give up. If you do, then all the effort you've made to that point makes no sense. Maybe AIESEC is not able to make the world change so much that there is peace all over -- no wars, no fighting -- but maybe we can make the world less and less violent. If we say there's nothing we can do, then we won't do anything. That's basically what I believe. It changed me a bit because I used to think people really are good by nature. Now I have some doubts.
GTS: Does AIESEC help with cultural immersion and educating trainees to avoid negative cultural stereotypes?
HB: AIESEC teaches you a lot of respect. You get to know a lot of different people, and it teaches you how great it is that people are that different. The basic idea is that if the world's six billion people were all the same, it would be just horrible! You would look around and only see yourself! I don't know if I could stand that, me all over! So it is mainly the opportunity to get to see faraway places that you've only heard about. At first, I wasn't very happy about going to US, because everyone knows something about the US. I always thought it would be so much better to go to some country I knew almost nothing about -- that would be a real cultural experience. Maybe someday in the future!
GTS: Is there one where you'd like to go?
HB: Before I applied to work at PWC, I also applied to Ivory Coast. Unfortunately, they wanted someone who spoke French! I know nothing about Ivory Coast except that it's in northwest Africa and that French is the national language there. I would also really love to see Ireland. And Vienna -- I would love so much to see Austria. But I've learned things I didn't know about the US since I've been here.
GTS: What is the most surprising thing to find out about the US after everything you'd heard?
HB: How big everything is. Seriously! Things are like ten times bigger here!
I remember the day we landed, AIESEC took us out to dinner. I wasn't very hungry, so I got a salad. In Poland, we have much smaller salad bowls. They brought me a great big thing, and I could only eat a third of it. So that was the first really surprising thing, that everything is big. When people ask if I get any culture shock, I say no. Either Poland is becoming so Americanized, or I've been through so many cultural experiences that I'm not capable of culture shock anymore. I can see that America is a lot richer country than Poland is, and people are a lot better off. You can see that at first glance. Also, your people are more comfortable by themselves. In Poland, we're more social creatures, and we're more often in groups. Here, everyone is more concentrated on their own thing.
I may not feel very comfortable with that because I'm used to a different way, but that's good. I've learned to accept it, and that's the whole point of AIESEC exchange. There's another Polish trainee with me who finds it hard to accept a lot of things. He's the kind of person who thinks it should be his way or not at all. But I am a guest here. I came here and I knew things would be different, and I accept them the way they are. I did not expect people to be the way I am. That's the reason I came, to learn a different way of doing things and a different way of looking at the world. You don't go to visit someone's house and say, "I don't like your curtains," or "You have an awful color sofa." That's not what you do. If someone invites you over, you try to be nice and accept the rules of the house. They may tell you, "Well, I'd rather you take your shoes off," so you don't walk in with mud-covered boots all over the house. You learn to respect other people. As long as you do that, you can go everywhere, and you'll feel comfortable.
GTS: Do you think AIESEC has prepared you to find a job, whether in Poland or elsewhere?
HB: Yes. I've get to know a lot about companies and the business environment. I've learned a lot more about what to expect -- how companies work, how to talk to different companies. You represent AIESEC, so you can get a lot but you have to give a lot. In Poland, I always had fights with my mother because I had school, I had to tutor to pay my tuition, and I had AIESEC, which is a full-time job. I was leaving home at 7 a.m. and coming back at 11 at night, and my mom would say, "This is not a hotel! You just eat and sleep here! Someday I'll check you out!" But she did understand that I hoped to do an internship through AIESEC. She was just worried I'd do more than I'd have time to do. But I'd always tell her I'm having fun, and when you're having fun you don't think about being tired. I've learned to drink a lot of coffee. Get up, drink coffee, go to reception, drink coffee, have a coffee break, drink coffee -- you've got to keep yourself going.
GTS: Do you think that AIESEC has opened your eyes up to different things than regular schooling has?
HB: Traditional teaching is a lot different than the way of training at AIESEC. When you go to university, especially in Poland, the professor usually does the talking. At AIESEC training, we make people talk. The best trainers are the ones who talk as little as possible. We make trainees come up with things, figure things out. That way, they have more fun with their experience, and they remember.
GTS: Do you think you'll still be involved with AIESEC after you graduate?
HB: I think I will be. I think it will be hard for me to give it up so easily. I always say that I see AIESEC with the eyes of my first trainer. He was a really great guy with a real passion for this. Ever since then, I've said that I'm a hopeless AIESEC'er, and I think I'll be an AIESEC'er for all my life.
AIESEC has taught me a lot about myself. It's helped me appreciate my family. It helped me see that people are good. It's helped me not only think about what people are, but why they are like that. I've stopped judging people and have learned how I might be able to help them see things in different ways with constructive criticism. It's taught me even more that you should think when you do something, not only about how it affects you but, more importantly, how it affects other people.
People often ask themselves, "What influence can I possibly have on the world?" But if everyone thinks this way, they can't have any. But if there are lots of people doing lots of good things, then the world will be full of people having a positive influence! And it will work out.
:: GOODTHINGS
Jennifer Hixson interviewed AIESEC's Honorata Broniarz for this GoodLetter. Jennifer was GoodThings' Spring 2002 intern and a recent graduate of the University of Washington. She lives in Seattle. Click here for her favorite goodthings
(Thoughts on this GoodLetter? Inspired by what you've read? E-mail us -- don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web site.)
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TALK ABOUT IT
Have you been an exchange student? Did it change your world view for the better? Have you had a particularly powerful experience hosting an exchange student? Share your stories and ideas.
LEARN MORE ABOUT IT
The world's largest student organization, AIESEC is a global network of 50,000 members across more than 83 countries and territories at more than 800 universities worldwide. AIESEC facilitates international exchange of thousands of students and recent graduates each year in both paid traineeships and as non-profit volunteers. AIESEC's mission: to contribute to the development of AIESEC countries and their people with an overriding commitment to international understanding and cooperation.
:: Learn more about AIESEC
:: The extraordinary story of the founding of AIESEC
Other global student exchange programs:
:: AFS
:: American Intercultural Student Exchange
:: Youth for Understanding
:: Rotary International
:: Council on International Educational Exchange
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Tell an adventurous college student you know about AIESEC and encourage them to consider making a difference in the world through a global experience with the organization.
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The Upshot:
Support the relief effort in Bali
As you know, a massive bomb rocked the Pacific resort island of Bali on October 12, 2002, a date that for Indonesians will be analogous to "September 11" for most Americans. The bomb destroyed a night club in Kuti, killing nearly 200 people and injuring scores of others from countries all over the world.
You can educate yourself about the events of October 12 and can lend your support to the difficult relief effort. Please spend a few minutes exploring some of the following links and sharing them with others:
Bali relief effort
:: Bali SOS Emergency Volunteer Group
:: Bali Hati Foundation (CasaLunaBali.com)
:: More about the Bali Hati Foundation
:: BaliDiscovery.com
:: Tributes to victims (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
back to the top
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