Parents' Night & The "Surprise" Christmas Night

It is not often that you can manage to please the folks and have a great party in one day. However, today was one of such occasions. AIESEC Karachi held its first ever Parents' Night and threw a surprise Christmas party for the MC, interns and the visiting AI Director, Ryan shepherd.

The evening started off with the few (but dearly welcomed) parents who came to see the presentations and speeches given by the LC members and Interns. From Agha talking about how AIESEC has helped him become a more confident person to me talking about "a sense of belonging" and the interns sharing their experiences in Karachi to Mehr explaining AIESEC as a reason for her getting a 3.8 GPA this semester, the experience was phenomenal. A special shout out to Wangari Wanjau for taking center-stage and impressing the folks!

The Christmas party kicked off with a bang with the tree that Omar managed to get. I am at a loss for words when it comes to describing the joy and happiness on the faces of the interns when they saw the tree and the arrangements we had made for them. They couldn't stop hugging the LC members and thanking them for arranging the decorations, etc. And being the proactive member that I am, I took it upon myself to become a make-shift Santa (localized version = semi-formal dressing (preferably in grey) and a goatee and a very loud "ho-ho-ho") and get red stockings with eclairs. The MC went ballistic!

The evening was rounded off with various jives and Christmas songs and Ryan's "Hauka" call - definitely an experience to see live. A special thanks to the following LC people for arranging and attending the party:

Saba
Sharmeen
Rabia
Mikaal
Taha
Omar
Agha
Sadaf
Mehr

And for all LC members who couldn't make it - YOU MISSED A KILLER PARTY!!

Stay tuned for more posts, random and otherwise.

The Much Awaited Post from the LCP-Elect

My apologies for posting this so late. As you will read you will realize why it was so and what I am feeling about all of this. So the question that everyone's been constantly asking me:

How do you feel, that is the question; but don't expect an easy answer...
I am the elected Local Committee President of AIESEC in Karachi for the term 2007-2008. Having to go to an OCM right after elections, I did not find time to assimilate this sudden development. But now, after the hub-bub has momentarily died, I reflect and there is this feeling which makes me start to think:

How much is real, there's so much to question...
The time from election announcement till now feels like one long day. There has been no time to sit down and think about the leadership role that I will be playing. The massive flow of emails and SMS have left me feeling a little unreal; is this how big this role really is? The LC members have been caring and supportive and each of them looks to me with hope; they really believe in me. So with this:

I throw a blind spoon on the fork in the road...
This marks a major turning point in my life. It is now that all decisions I make must really be sustainable options for me and for those around me. My belief in "bring the change" is strengthened. It is now, more important than ever, to assimilate to the realities that surround me and the organization that I am now responsible for leading in to the future.

The time to evolve is here.

We are all ready to roll out, and face the world.

Come what(ever) may!