AIESECers are an Intern’s Best Friend

It’s commonly known that diamonds are a girl’s best friend and although it’s usually expected that this expression be abused so that a girl may obtain shining objects from her knight in shining armour, I feel that the scope of the expression can be expanded to something more meaningful. I’m no geologist, in fact I’m not good at most things but I strongly feel that the authentic diamonds of this world are the AIESECers. To keep things simple and to force my point the word girl can be expanded to include all genders of interns.

These incredibly good-looking volunteers work long hours to connect interns with organizations and the local culture. They rarely get acknowledged for their effort nor do they get near enough drinks bought for them. While I’m not suggesting that I have been so crafty as to win over even one friend, I do feel as though I’ve been shown a little bit of TLC from Vienna ’52.

It’s easy to complain and somehow harder to give praise. At times an intern may falter by shovelling complaints your way while dealing with a combination of home-sickness and fitting in. The fact is that we’ve been spoiled. These sexy superstars go above the call of duty and somehow we’ve gotten quite fond of you holding our hand. We’re sorry that we wake up crying in the middle of the night when the power in our flat is out and when the magistrate is taking their sweet time with time-sensitive paperwork as well as everything in between.

I’m not sure quite how you manage to balance school, AIESEC, and a social life while continuing to look runway ready rockstar ravishing. At times I’m sure motivation can wear thin when you recognize that you’re completing difficult tasks with strict deadlines that are tied to little or no compensation. On top of that you’ve been tasked with connecting with a bunch of people from foreign countries whom you’ve never met before which is not unlike the risk a mother takes when birthing a child. Your kid may turn out to be a complete jerk but you’re required to love him or her anyhow. So I guess in a way you’re all mothers. It’s small potatoes but I hope you’ll accept my thanks and I hope that I can offer something in return.

Diamonds are rare and difficult to find. However, I seem to have stumbled upon a repository of them in Vienna. Thank you for showing me the AIESEC way and I hope that you always continue to shine.