Shaping a generation: Taiwan sees Colombia through the eyes of a young leader in AIESEC

By ChiMing Liu - Taiwan, 

Educational Psychology and Counseling

The Shape Colombia project has not just changed my students’ perspective towards the world, but also their mentality on lives. I encourage them to pursue their lifelong goal. The very first thing I taught them is that “I’m gonna be there.” ‘There’ could be their career, dream, family, boy/girlfriend or anything that matters to them. And they need to be there so on the life would be different. 

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Same with my English classes: I told them no matter how late they are, just come to my class. Once they are there, their lives would be different - step by step. By using different visual-aid teaching materials, I taught them how to be more organized and efficient on their lives­; and most important is to have more interest in English.

As for me, I have met 200 trainees from almost 50 nationalities. I have learned a lot of different mentalities on every aspect of life. I found myself, became more open-minded to different cultures, more confident of myself, more mature to perceive and process any events that happened in my life in Colombia, and more certain and excited for my future career.

Life in Colombia had been very comfortable for me. My Colombian friends had helped me out for any kinds of ridiculous errands or troubles. I deeply feel grateful and appreciate their passions and kindness. The culture here is very passionate and relaxed, which is very different from eastern Asia culture.

A lot of places would be dangerous if you go alone. But, if you go with local friends, normally there will not be any trouble. The reason that the Colombian people are amazing is that even they have so many issues like corruption or poverty. They are still being positive and try their best to solve these problems. And that impress me the most.

I had joined the biggest project in Bogota with AIESEC which is in partnership with Bogota city government. The project has been organized thoroughly with every aspect. The coordinators of Shape Colombia are efficient, responsible and productive. Every time I have doubts or problem, they would always give immediate and direct assistance and guidance.

Meeting people from all over the world totally broaden my horizons toward the world. We talk about the lifestyles, the education, the policy and even our perspectives on the mayor events of the world. For me, this is the best experience to grow, to develop an international knowledge and our own personalities into a more mature and better way.

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