AIESEC, a student-run organization that exists at over 1,800 university campuses around the world, began at DU this fall. The organization aims to promote peace by organizing intercultural exchange.
Although AIESEC used to stand for the French name “Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales” (International Association of Students in the Economic and Commercial Sciences), the acronym no longer stands for anything.
The organization decided to drop the acronym in order to represent a more global population of students. The name restricted the group to French students of economics and commercial sciences only.
Each AIESEC chapter sets up students at their university with internships abroad and finds local internships for international students.
“By following this model, every AIESEC chapter is able to link young people to international opportunities that are not available through any other organization,” said graduate student Greg Sobetski, the AIESEC local committee president.
AIESEC is the largest student-run organization in the world, with 55,000 students in chapters located in 111 countries. That number is expected to grow with a chapter opening in Paraguay this year. Individual chapters have anywhere from 10 to 100 student members. Each chapter is run by college students or someone who is less than two years out of college.
The new DU chapter has 30 members, not including members who are abroad. AIESEC had to turn down applicants in an effort to make the chapter small enough to ensure that everyone had an important responsibility.
“We interview all of our applicants to determine who is best compatible with the values and needs of AIESEC Denver,” said Sobetski. “This year, we interviewed 39 candidates and asked 21 students to join.”
The admitted members split into four separate teams: incoming exchange, which is responsible for finding local internships; outgoing exchange, which is responsible for recruiting DU students who are interested in internships abroad; talent management, which works to ensure that each member experiences worthwhile personal development; and finance, which manages the group’s budget.
“Part of AIESEC’s philosophy is that every student should play an active role in our mission,” said Sobestki. “The idea behind having four functional teams is to ensure that everyone is responsible for some part of AIESEC.”
Despite all of the hard work that students put in, being a member of AIESEC is not a paid job. So what gives students the incentive to apply?
Sobetski said AIESEC allures members for three reasons
“First, each AIESEC [member] gains invaluable real-world business experience through sales meetings with local companies and the opportunity to complete an internship in their field of study,” he said.
In addition, AIESEC offers students the opportunity to travel virtually anywhere in the world, including dozens of countries where study abroad isn’t an option. AIESEC is also a completely student-led organization, which means that anyone interested in leadership can find an opportunity to lead through AIESEC.
In addition to setting up students with internships, the organization has taken on other projects that will benefit DU students.
“We’re one of the main organizations behind the Pioneer-to-Pioneer (P2P) program, which will pair domestic and international students in regular intercultural exchanges here on campus,” said Sobetski.
