Do It 2008 and Switzerland

Some years ago there was a guy that told me that I should apply for facilitator at Do It conference. I said he was crazy because I had no facilitating experience but he convinced me to apply and of course I wasn’t selected.

.

Today that is one of the most important lessons I hold about what is to support people to do things they don’t believe they would ever do and to take them out of their comfort zone by challenging them. In another situation I asked him what was to be a mentor, and among other things he told me that a mentor convinces his mentees to apply for faci at Do It. The day after I invited him to be my mentor which he is until today. That was one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

.

All of this to say that this conference always had a special meaning for me, and I always knew that one day I had to be facilitator in this conference. So I applied again this year and now I was selected!

.

So in the last week of October I caught a train and found myself in Bern, in Switzerland together with other 23 people (Facilitators + Chair) to deliver one of my dreams. .

The conference had over 200 delegates with something like 31 countries represented, it took place in Fiesh, in the Alps and it was exactly what I needed.

.

To go to a national conference in another country challenges your idea about how a conference is runned, it challenges how an agenda is built, it makes one reflect on its own reality which is taken for granted, it helps you to questioned which AIESEC do you believe in and it made me question myself, my skills and what I want.

.

There are few words to describe the experience but I would definitely focus on one thing. I’ve meet people from all around the world that got together randomly in a small room with one goal: to make that a unique experience for the conference delegates. I meet the facilitators team which was inspiring, funny, random comprised by a bunch of amazing people.

.

Thank you for reminding me why I am in this organization and why I am doing this.

.

And besides that I had the pleasure to get to know Zurich. Switzerland was always a bit of a mystery for me because I always knew a lot of Portuguese immigrated there but I never knew exactly why. Know I think it is because Switzerland offers a life quality which is unquestionable even for a one day visitor. I recommend.

So in the end, thanks for the challenge Pita and Jih-Ming, I owe you both.