Our Cutie adventure is about to end for this year, my dear collegiettes. I know you all are going to miss the weekly zoom into our university’s gems, so I thought that the perfect ending would have been a positivity-oriented one!
Our guest of the week is Luisa, a life-lover and, in particular, a people-lover! She channels all her positivity in activities such as leadership development in the student organisation AIESEC. I know you all are ready with tissues, so before we say goodbye, get some positivity on you!
Photo by Sergiu Cioban
Name: Luisa Edves
Major & Year of Study: BSc Business Studies, 1st year
Country of origin: Romania
Relationship status: Single
Your first year in London is over. How does it feel? I still cannot figure out how or where all this time went by. Everything felt so fast – I still look back to September when I moved in here and realised that it all felt like one long month. I feel a little bit nostalgic, to be honest, just thinking of how my life actually has changed since last year when I graduated from high school.
How hard was it to settle down in the city? I like to think that is was a challenge I managed even better than I expected. I was struggling in the beginning due to the change of environment, culture, language and even weather! But I have been really lucky right from the beginning to meet incredible people who made me feel like home when I was so far away from it. Though, time management still remains a hard issue to jungle with in London!!!
I know you are a very positive and friendly person and that you love people. Why is that an important life choice to make? ‘Do things with passion or not at all’ – this was maybe the most important lesson my parents have ever thought me. I think that in life the most important thing to do is to be happy and content with yourself. Every choice you make has to be driven by your passions, your believes, your values; cause at the end of the day, when you get to lay your head on the pillow, you have to be the one confronting yourself. Why not smiling while doing that?!
Tell me something about your AISEC experience. Well, to begin with AIESEC is the largest students’ organisation in the world, which aims to develop leadership in people. I know it sounds cheesy and is not event 5% of what this organisation actually is, but I would need another 3000 words to get through what AIESEC actually is. I joined this organisation in the beginning of October. As I previous mentioned, I love being surrounded by people and – here it comes my truly passion – helping people to develop, motivate them in order to achieve their true potential. So I joined the Talent Management department. It was there where I realised the path I want to take in my business career (Human Resources Management) as well as clarified my believes and values in life. Beginning from August, I will be the new Vice President of the TM department. Wish me good luck!
Do you think that great friendships and connections can also be the key towards a bright career? This is one of the basic lessons they teach you in business classes: “a friend can always secure you a contract”. So I would say yes, connections and friends can be keys of your career. But I will not fully relay on that, sometimes it is better to separate your carrier from your personal life.
Is there any particular person that inspires you? Margaret Thatcher, Meg Whiteman (CEO of HP), Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) and the list can go on. I am inspired by powerful women!!! I am inspired by their ambitions, motivation and cleverness of rising up to the top in a world that belongs to men. These women wrote history, they run large industries and economies. They left a mark in this world, and for that they will be never forgotten.
To conclude with, leave us with a motivational advice of yours. If your dreams do not scare you, they aren’t big enough!