I learned about Aiesec’s existence when I was looking for a job in Dresden, Germany at the job agency beginning April 2004.  Though I tried to find a position locally, I always desired to live and work in an English speaking country.  The information provided by a brochure on AIESEC was sufficient to make me pay them a visit at their local office.

 I was welcomed in a friendly and informal manner by one of the AIESEC members.  After a short outline of my overall objective (find a job in either Canada or the U.S. within 3 months) I was told that my plans were certainly feasible.

 Since I graduated in March 2004, I was exempted from various group assignments undergraduates are required to complete in order to be allowed on an internship. I was, however, required to attend a 3 day lasting exchange preparation seminar despite my relatively extensive foreign experience. (5 years, The Netherlands – 1 year Scotland – 3 months USA)

 The earliest seminar was a couple of months away from the point that I submitted my application to a Canadian company that were looking for a person with the qualifications that I perfectly matched.  (Note: the commencement of that particular internship was a month off.)  In order to stay as competitive as possible in the race for the placement in Canada, I suggested AIESEC Dresden that I will follow the exchange preparation seminar once I arrived in Canada.  Furthermore, I referred them to the foreign experience I had already obtained indicating I am not a stranger to cultural issues.   In fact, I also mentioned that I had written my dissertation for my B.B.A. in International Hospitality Management on the topic of how to manage a diverse labor force.  Neither the suggestions nor the requests were enough to convince them to either let me attend the exchange preparation in Canada or exempt me from it in order to remain interesting to the Canadian recruiters.  Consequently, I was not considered a potential candidate.

 My application got forwarded to Aiesec San Luis Obispo, CA, USA in late April.  There, I was in a pool of applicants competing for an internship at the Ocean Breeze Inn at Pismo Beach, CA. A telephone interview with the recruiter of the Ocean Breeze Inn was conducted barely a week after having established contact with the local Aiesec office.  A final decision on the chosen candidate was postponed several times.  In order to determine my eligibility, the National staff AIESEC required a copy of my former J-1 VISA, which was attached to my passport that had expired and, consequently was destroyed and replaced by the German authorities.   The only possibility to generate a copy of the necessary paper was to contact my former J-1 provider, WEUSA (Work Experience USA) It was a lengthy and dear process.  Though the person in charge was cooperative, it all seemed rather unprofessional ($20 fee for a copy of a single paper to send via mail only in order to get a copy of the J-1 visa.  Moreover, neither a confirmation of the arrived letter including the $20 nor a copy of my J-1 visa never arrived.  Several attempts to reach the contact person by email remained unanswered over a period of about 2 months.  Meanwhile, an employee of National Staff AIESEC in New York contacted WEUSA since I provided them WEUSA’s address plus phone number.

 After the National Staff AIESEC had determined my eligibility (18 months; the maximum stay a J-1 visa yields) further paperwork was required. Amongst, the “Certificate of Eligibility” (the profound basis for the J-1 visa) orientation information was included.

The first appointment available at the U.S. embassy in Berlin was an entire month off, that far away that the dates on the “Certificate of Eligibility” needed to be revised.  The revision of the dates on the “Certificate of Eligibility” paper happened timely but the dates were incorrect which would have caused an extremely unpleasant delay if submitted unchanged at the U.S. embassy. As a result, National Staff AIESEC had to issue and send off a third “Certificate of Eligibility” document.

 The day of my arrival was of such overwhelming nature that these moments will be lasting for a life time.  Based on the experience of my arrivals in foreign countries prior I never expected it to be so warm, polite, and kind.  An entire group of AIESEC’ers came to welcome me --  I was simply touched.

 It was certainly a pleasant feeling to hear that secured housing was taken care of long time before the actual arrival.  “Privileged” I would call the time I spent two members of AIESEC if I was ask to wrap it up in one word.  Needless to say, there were plenty of social activities arranged by members – I have never had such a tight schedule.  It truly was a time of learning experienced combined with tons of fun and cultural exchange.  According to the contract signed by the internship provider and myself a car would have been provided from the day of commencement of the placement.  Since the care was not issued until a month after I started placement, member of AIESEC compensated cheerfully and secured transportation at all times necessary.

Overall, the experience wit AIESEC, the members of San Luis Obispo, in particular enriches my life to an unexpected extent.  I, hereby, would like to extend my most sincere and best wishes to all AIESEC members that have made my life such a comfortable, pleasant, vitalizing, and energizing one here in the U.S.  Based on my unexpected positive experience with AIESEC, I do highly recommend it to anybody that asks me about the programs.