#InsideLife of an AIESECer's fall from grace - Part 2/2

Also my thoughts on book clubs, pride, and a miserable attempt to polowo oja.

Hello guys,

Hope you are doing well. I’m doing okay, Alhamdulillah.

Something totally random: I struggle with book clubs. It is somewhat unusual for someone who loves books to be fairly uninterested in a community of people committed to book reading. But for me, it takes the fun out of it. I read, write, and do all the random things I do first because I enjoy them, then because there might be some internal or external benefit. I wasn’t always like this, but that is another story.

Reading is something I find interesting is for my personal value. There is joy in learning unique things at my own pace, creating personalized interpretations of what I find, pausing one book because I’m in the mood for another, or fashiing a book because I have the gist of it already. And then sometimes meeting someone who has gone through a similar journey in the same book? Amazing.

But reading xyz because 20 other people are reading xyz and we have to review at the end of the week or month? Nahh. As someone who is fairly decent at achieving by conformity and rule-following in many parts of my life, whenever I get the chance to do things completely differently and follow the less worn path, I take it.

And this is why I have taken this long to continue this story. In hindsight, splitting my AIESEC story into two parts was not the best move. Because it has somewhat evolved from sitting in front of a computer telling a random story that I currently find exciting to finishing a writing task because I promised a Part 2.

Anyhoo, it eez what it eez.

** If you did not read Part 1 of the AIESEC story, please catch up here. Otherwise, the rest of it will not make much sense.

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I worked in MAC for a couple of months, and I quickly caught the AIESEC buzz. As many of my friends like Oghenaogie might remember, that was all I talked about. But to truly live the AIESEC experience, you can’t just be a random member. You have to ‘experience AIESEC’, usually by applying for leadership positions or going for exchange.

Let me explain. AIESEC does many things, but perhaps the most impactful is encouraging students to go on an exchange program to another country for about 6 weeks. In this time, students usually volunteer at a school, food shelter, or charity organization in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Image from giphy

I was not quite in a position to travel, so I signed up for a Managerial position instead. AIESEC has manyyyy acronyms and this position was one of several MLM (Middle-Level Manager) positions for AIESEC in Lagos. I can’t remember exactly what the title of the role was, but my guess is Tracking & Experience Manager.

And so I prepared my application, looked for some bobo to tell them in the interview about why to hire me, and got a big fat rejection. Yes, you read that right. Buttt I got called back that even though I wouldn’t be getting the role, there was another one I could do.

** side note: This is the beauty of applications and putting yourself out there generally. You might not get what you are looking for, but you will make it easier for other things to find you.

The role was MLM Promotions & Campaigns, and basically involved driving AIESEC’s efforts to evangelize the exhange experiences. I have affiliated with this title loosely, selling it as everything from Sales Manager to Product Marketing Manager depending on who I’m talking to and what I’m looking for (yet another beauty of student leadership experiences).

It was good times. I met some really cool people, and we made noise about how nothing was more important on earth than doing an exchange with AIESEC. Our team even visited a number of organizations (French Village?) and colleges (YabaTech, FCE, etc) in Lagos to preach to them the AIESEC gospel. If someone asks me today to go upandan Unilag (and Lagos) to sell some experiences, it sounds like a lot of effort for little value in return. Thankfully, I was not quite this lazy then.

We were largely successful, wa lillahil hamd. After our campaign, we had at least 55 students travel during the 6-week stretch to many countries including Ghana, Italy, Kenya and Ivory Coast. I think it was a local record at the time. I was even interviewed for AIESECer of the week (month?).

After the holidays were over, it was election season. AIESEC needed a new leadership team to drive our efforts in Lagos. President Igo had a conversation with me and encouraged me to run. Run for what? Anything. Maybe VP OGCDP (lol plentyyy acronyms).

I wasn’t sure. Yes I loved AIESEC and it would have been great to contribute on a larger scale. But just a few days earlier, I had received a call from Agah to discuss something that would come to be known as PAADC. And you know how Barney says new is always better? Haha well, new is always better.

So I was going to sit out AIESEC’s election and focus on this PAADC thing. The plan was simple. I would avoid 80% of AIESEC engagements, make noise on the group chat, and turn up for the fun events with no responsibilities. Looked good to me.

And for a couple of weeks, that was exactly what I did. But the new leadership wasn’t having any of it. They wanted all AIESECers to pay membership fees, show up for meetings and actively contribute. Then an ultimatum came.

‘We are doing membership review and anybody that does not pay their fees and show up or actively contribute will be kicked out.’

Lmaoo I see am like play. We don dey used to am.

Then some days later, I received a mail saying I was up for membership review and would be delisted if I didn’t show renewed commitment in the next few weeks.

Image from Pinterest

Whattt? Are these people seriousss? But I paid dues nauuu. How can I be up for membership review? I mean sure I missed a couple of sessions, but everybody misses sometimes. There must be a mistake somewhere and they should better correct it.

And then I did one of the most stupid things I have done (and I have done a lot of stupid things). I could have ignored that mail and gone to meet the leadership team at the next meeting. Make them comot my name, we be guys. I could have acknowledged the mail and told my boss I would show more commitment in future.

But no, I replied the email and put the President in copy, saying there must have been some mixup with the membership review process as my name could not possibly be on the list. Immature? I would say. Foolish? Very much so.

And of course, there was no mixup… 😂😂

Again, I could have (and should have) apologized and let it go. All of this is yearss ago, but I still cringe when I remember my immaturity. Long story short, I mentally dissociated from AIESEC in that moment. I didn’t bother to talk to anyone about membership review, didn’t bother to attend future events, didn’t bother to stay on the group chat. Afterall, I had this new PAADC idea and two billion other things to do.

The main problem was pride. I felt like ‘ah ahn, how can I be up for membership review? Me that has spent all this time and effort carrying AIESEC on my head is who you’re threatening to kick out? Lai lai!’

But who are we to be proud? What had I done to be proud of? What have you done to be proud of?

‘You see them carrying iPhone, driving 2006 Benz and suddenly “Do you know who I am?” Brother who are you? You are nothing, sit down and je ka gboron.’ - BMS, 2020

I don’t care if you have 2 PhDs or are richer than Bezos, what have you done to be proud of? The answer is nothing. The answer is always nothing. You did not make yourself, you did not choose how wealthy your parents would be, you did not indicate the level of intellect you wanted to have before entering the earth. So what are you proud of?

-وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِن سُلَٰلَةٍ مِّن طِين - ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَٰهُ نُطْفَةً فِى قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ - ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا ٱلنُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْمُضْغَةَ عِظَٰمًا فَكَسَوْنَا ٱلْعِظَٰمَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَٰهُ خَلْقًا ءَاخَرَ ۚ فَتَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ ٱلْخَٰلِقِينَ

And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators. - Quran 23: 12 - 14

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If you found this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends. Have them read it and subscribe. I like to share personal stories and life lessons I am learning. They will be super random, but common themes will be around business, personal development, human relationships, and Islam.

Gracias, and see you around.

Hameed

** If you get the opportunity to contribute actively to a student organization, take it. The benefits in terms of experience, network, and skills are invaluable. And if you can, go for an exchange program with AIESEC Lagos. Yes I’m advertising.