AIESEC UBC In Real Time: Surucha Arora

Meet Surucha Arora, a 2nd year UBC Sauder student. For Surucha, working at AIESEC has been an adventure! From meeting new people during consultations to now planning and hosting virtual events, she loved actively participating in AIESEC.

To find out more about SuruchaÔÇÖs role at AIESEC and how she gained valuable skills in people management, event planning and more, check out the interview below!

Yousra: WhatÔÇÖs your role at AIESEC and what do you do on a typical day?

Surucha: I am the Team Leader of the newly created Engagement with AIESEC (EwA) Portfolio. As a leader, I get to plan events to increase the awareness about the organization. Planning an event is such an amazing process because you get to learn a lot about sales and audience attraction while making sure that the organization benefits from the hosted events. But my role isnÔÇÖt limited to that! I get to be the mediator between the VP and the members. I also get the opportunity to train new members and schedule monthly one on one personal development plans to ensure that members are able to track their goals and grow their skills.

Y: Nice! What would you say you value the most about AIESEC? Or what is your favorite thing about the work youÔÇÖre doing?

S: The thing that I value the most about AIESEC is the flexibility of my role. Because AIESEC welcomes such a diverse community, conversation is easy with the people I work with. So, for example, if I am busy on a particular day, I would update my VP and then accommodate according to the scheduled deadlines. On the other hand, I also get the flexibility to contribute more. The more I want to work, the more impactful it feels, which is something I really admire about AIESEC and its missions.

Y: Love it! What skills have you learnt since you joined AIESEC?

S: I believe I have learned combination of soft skills and hard skills. Some of the most valuable skills that I have developed are leadership and event planning. Apart from that, I definitely feel more confident working in a diverse team setting and believing in myself that I am capable enough to do things that I do not know how to do.

Y: What are some of the challenges or obstacles that youÔÇÖve faced working at TL, and how have you overcome them?

S: The biggest challenge that I encountered was initiating motivation among new members to contribute during midterms. Because of the busy season, most of the members found it difficult to spare time for weekly AIESEC meetings and additional work. On top of that, I believe time zone difference also made communication difficult as it resulted in delayed responses. To overcome this issue, I planned to reduce the meeting timing and majorly communicated via Facebook to allocate work and answer any queries.

Y: How has your time at AIESEC influenced your future plans, academic studies, career goals, or even just your hobbies?

S: AIESEC has influenced the social side of my personality. I certainly feel more open and comfortable talking to people with different backgrounds. Additionally, it made me realize that life is bigger than our self-goals. As a business student, I had a mindset to network, get a job, and then someday start my own business. Being a part of AIESEC made me contemplate that we donÔÇÖt have to follow a straight cut plan. We can always take time to enrich our life with distinctive experiences! Be it be travelling, meeting new people or even getting to know more about global issues and their impact.