My adventure at AIESEC is exciting as well as unexpected.

It all started the day that, by chance, I found out about “AIESEC”. During a conference on Employment Possibilities abroad, organized by themselves, I asked myself: What was that about AIESEC? I soon learned that they were an association dedicated to exchanges abroad through internships (professional or voluntary). A month later, without eating it or drinking it, I was heading to what would be one of the best adventures of my life: Poland.

I arrived in Lublin (Poland) with the hyperactivity of a 5-year-old boy, as well as tired, given that I had been without rest for many hours and an endless journey from Kraków. What struck me the most and I will never forget, is that welcome banner carried by Karina, Dominika and company, accompanied by balloons. It was as if they had already known me all my life, and that fear that I had of the unknown, of uncertainty, vanished behind those platforms of the train station.

The next thing was to meet who would be my two new roommates for my first two weeks in the city. Patrycja and Karolina treated me like another Pole (not only because of the beer and vodka they offered me, but also their culture, their people, their gastronomy …). They organized a welcome party and I met a lot of people. One of the problems that suddenly appeared was the feeling of being lost, of not really being me when it came to sociability. English was something that limited me a lot when it came to socializing, but it didn’t take long for me to wake up and I know that if it weren’t for this experience, I wouldn’t have let loose so much when speaking in English.

And so far, why was I in Poland?
My mission completely changed the first day of class. My job was to teach children from 3 to 17 years old in schools in the area. My teaching was based on the exchange of culture, language, traditions and customs of Spain. But I realized that my mission, in addition to all of the above, was to give happiness and motivation to those children, and the best thing was that I received more than I could give.

That feeling when you realized that you impacted them so much, that feeling when you enjoyed them, that feeling when you received the affection of those “little ones” was priceless. Clarify that I volunteered for about 7 weeks. They gave me the maintenance, the stay, and they paid for the transportation. I didn’t have a salary, but my job was paid with smiles, and a child’s smile is the best bargaining chip in the world .

What made me most happy about my work, in addition to enjoying with the children, was the ease that my project gave me to visit schools in other cities and towns such as Nowodwór, OAZA schools in the Chełm area, Firlej … It was a way easy to travel, visit new places and live new adventures. Also say that we always worked in groups of two. Each one of a different nationality. My group consisted of: Mo (USA), Sara (Tunisia), Nataly (Ukraine), Hassan (Pakistan), Marko (Serbia), Simo (Morocco), Destria (Indonesia) and Snow Yellow (China).

Traveling two people together and living 3-5 days in one place was a way of getting to know each other more. One of those trips, specifically to Firlej, was where I discovered the true Polish people and wonderful people (friends for life). There is not a day that I don’t know about them, or talk to them (thanks to new technologies). The people were very friendly, welcoming, helpful, which has been a great community. They told me that last winter there were a series of storms that destroyed several houses in the village, including the small church. Everyone, absolutely everyone lent a hand to fix them. When I say “they lent a hand” I mean it literally, working as a community to solve this problem and that this summer everyone will enjoy that beautiful town called Firlej.

There I realized the potential I had, and that I liked my job. Also because the children helped me to do my job more enjoyable. Besides that the reception was spectacular; Dawid and his sister Patrycja welcomed me into their home like one of the family. Paweł and Kasia’s help in class helped me a lot and I made the classes more enjoyable. Many of my classmates taught and little else. I tried to take it to interactive learning, with games so that while they had fun, they learned.

And how can I forget about AIESEC Lublin: very committed people, who taught us how to work and live there, in addition to teaching us to be friends forever. Name my buddy Justyna who made things very easy for me there, Damian for teaching me more serious words in Polish, the twins for waking me up in the morning so I wouldn’t miss the bus, the Dominikas, Karina, Karolina, Kinga, Krzysiek, Maciej, Milena, Sandra, and many more. I am not forgetting you. I will always remember those nights at Riviera and Dom Kultury.

Without a doubt, living this experience changed me completely, traveling alone, facing problems and being able to solve them, to find my creativity. I realized how far I can really go, to speak in public (a few months ago it was unthinkable for me), to manage my time, to never give up … in short, it has helped me to grow, to mature.

For me, Poland was a place where I felt very identified, where people treated me as I am, and where I discovered that I could overcome my fears, my fears. The place where I met extraordinary people, the place where my best memories and best friends meet.

A year later, I returned to the same place, and I could see the great positive impact that I made in the lives of others. It was the exact moment that I became a Global Citizen .

Alvaro Jimenez

AIESEC in Granada