LCP thoughts from Prague – because sharing is caring

So some of you might have been wondering: where is my LCP? I haven’t had the chance to talk to all of you, the members of AIESEC Aarhus, since the wonderful induction conference ALIWE, which I believe can be summed up as I did in a text to a dear friend of mine: “I’m high on experiences and people and I had two shots!”, because even a mini-conference like ALIWE is about the people, the experiences and learnings, as well as all the fun and partying.

And that is actually where I’m at currently. I’m going to EuroCo, which is an international conference for LCPs taking place from Monday October 17 to Sunday October 23 in Prague, Czech Republic. At the time of writing this I’m sitting in my hostel in Prague; I arrived Saturday October 15 to have some days of seeing Prague before the actual conference – international conferences are usually very intense when it comes to sessions, content and agenda. That means that there won’t be any time to go see Prague during the conference (sessions from 9:00 to 22:00 truly prevents that!).

A view of the Charles' Bridge and Vltava

I’ve had the chance to go see Prague together with another LCP, Casper from Copenhagen Business School, and we did all the touristy things expected of us; took a walk on Charles’ Bridge, saw the Astronomical Clock, walked around the Old Town, went on a “Ghost Tour” and of course drank good, cheap beer. Prague is a beautiful city, but it was actually one of the more unusual sights of Prague that really got me thinking.

Charles' Bridge

The thing is, the escalators in the metro stations in Prague are kind of scary. They run at an incredible speed – so if you want to go get on them, you have to brace yourself and jump on, and then hold on for dear life. Also, the incline on these escalators is very steep, which is yet another reason to hold on tight!

I had a thought Saturday evening when going down the escalators on my way to catch the metro line B to my hostel from downtown; AIESEC is in many ways like these escalators. You take a chance and jump on when you join AIESEC. AIESEC will then take you on a fast-paced and at times scary journey, where sometimes it feels as though you are just holding on by the tips of your fingers – scared to fall off. But in the end it is all worth it, because the place you end up after that journey is better than where you were before; because you learn how to deal with the scary and the rapid changes. But with that being said; I still look like a fool taking the metro station escalators in Prague – I still have to take a step back, brace myself and then run onto the escalator. But even though it is scary, I do it. And that’s the point.

Escalator in Prague

And to be honest, the thought of meeting 200 new people at this conference is kind of scary. But it is also a chance to network, meet new friends and experience other cultures, so that’s why I’m more excited that scared about it. I’ll hopefully also learn a lot; have many fun experiences, moments I’ll learn from and so much more.

When I have the time to write them down, I’ll share more LCP thoughts from Prague with you – because sharing is caring.

Take care, AIESEC Aarhus. See you soon!