Sparking Inspiration : The Journey to Exchange Programs

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA PENANG, 28 April: A night filled with performances, free snacks and story-telling sessions, SPARK Night, hosted by AIESEC USM, was a success with over 100 participants. AIESEC is an international non-government organization that provides a platform to empower aspiring youths in varsities to develop their leadership skills, engage in volunteerism and encourage global cultural exchange experiences.

 

Caption: Bonfire props to create the laid-back ambience



Hosted in KOMCHA DPS2, the theme of the night was ‘Bonfire Experience’ with bonfire props and laid-back ambience created specially by the members of AIESEC USM. Participants were welcomed with an engaging flashmob, where participants were encouraged to join. Later, the participants were divided into a few smaller groups following the countries they have chosen at the registration counter for a story-telling and experience-sharing session. This session was dotted with short performances by the committee members at intervals.

Caption: Flashmob performance to welcome the participants

An AIESEC member who has recently gone on his first exchange to Taiwan after four years as a member, Gan Kenn Vun, 24, shared that he was glad that he finally spared some time for this program. “I was busy as an undergraduate but now that I am doing my Masters, I can finally fulfill my goals to travel the world,” he said. Gan has chosen Taiwan as his first choice because it has always been the place he wanted to go. He chose education as his cause as he wanted to spread the awareness of the importance of education to the rural areas in Taiwan.

When asked about his best and most disappointing experiences when in Taiwan, Gan laughed and cheekily said, “My best experience was surprising them with my fluency in Chinese. They seem to have a misconception that Malaysians are Malays and therefore cannot speak Chinese. My most disappointing one was definitely their night markets. They are so overrated!”

Caption: The committee members gathered for a group photo

 

The president of the organising committee, Yeap Qi Chen, 21, was very pleased with the success of the event. Yeap said that this event was to encourage students of USM to come have fun and listen to the stories by other students who have went for an exchange. “I am a first year student and I see a lot of my peers stressed out about studies. This program is to help relieve some of their stress and also to inspire non-AIESECers to join us on our wonderful team”. He said that the event was organised because AIESEC USM has opened an awareness booth for about a month in the university and he felt that it was time the organisation came up with something refreshing for the students.

The event was made free by the sponsorship from RedBull and AIESEC USM.