ISLI: My experience

Fotogalerie

ISLI this year, as every other year I imagine, was a unique and great experience. I had the opportunity to meet students from all Europe and also some American students. I learned so many things, like how to work in a big group, how to organize my work but also I discovered my leadership style and how to manage my stress.

Well, when I first arrived, I have to say it wasn’t easy at all: I didn’t know anybody; I had to speak English all day long and also to work with people I had never worked with before… But it went by, I started to feel more confident, I was able to speak to people openly and also to really relax and start enjoying it.

ISLI also helped me to realize it is very important to be very open-minded but also to keep an eye on your goal. Without those two things I would have been completely lost in the group’s discussions.

Another thing I found out is that, in a group (especially in a group of leaders), you need to step up and expose your ideas without taking completely possession over the group members.

In conclusion I think that ISLI was a very enriching experience and I learned something very important that is going to follow me all my life: it doesn’t matter who you are, you can still make important decisions if you have the courage to step up and expose your ideas.

Micol Flegenheimer

There is a lot to say to revive this amazing week in ISLI 2008 at Oberwesel am Rhein. Everything started with the qualification, because only a small amount of chosen people can participate in this organization. A normal day and everything else what belonged to this week, was presented to us, but it was hard to put oneself in this position and to imagine what would await us there.

You have to experience the international student leadership institute by yourself, to know what its about. I was already totally fascinated, as we arrived. Everything was impressive, the friendly adults, which helped you to orient, the different people from all over the world and how they communicate among each other, the whole organization, and that first impression, didn't change the whole week. During the week we not only learned by teaching how to work in a group, but also by carrying it out. You weren't aware, that presenting in front of a lot of people, was in the end much easier for you and nervousness disappeared quicker than you thought. You also improved your English, by speaking it fluently and to communicate with people without any stoppages. After you leave ISLI you aren't shy anymore, even more self-confident and proud of yourself. Every sleepless night was profitable and after two minutes of leaving you miss everything you have sampled and gained. The only things which remind you of this wonderful occasion are your memory and your pictures.

Paulina Ottes

 

For me personally this week at ISLI was unforgettable, I really gained so much throughout spending this time there. I did not only had a really nice roommates I also had a perfectly matching colour group in which we all complemented each other. Because of this we managed the tasks we had to complete under pressure during 20 to 30 minutes. Everyone had different ideas and we tried to use all of these together to obtain the best result. At the beginning I was really afraid of presenting the completed task to all those people sitting in the aula, but it turned out to not being really difficult because we mostly had to act the tasks out as a skit or we had to sing a song or dance or read out or poem but sometimes we also had to do posters (what no one liked because it wasn’t that entertaining preparing everything) about the presentation which was held to us before by our "Sexy Regents". The native speakers were really helping because if someone didn’t understand something the whole group tried to help and explain. It also was a bit difficult to work in the group because you had to trust the people that where presenting on stage. What I think everyone liked most were the NEWSBREAKS :) It was always so really entertaining to see the people who lost something standing on stage and losing their respect whilst “butt spelling” their name or singing karaoke. Honestly everyone should have been astonished by the courage some people showed. The activities which the regents had organised were really entertaining: you had everything from learning Finnish up to charades and water polo. The regents really took time to prepare everything and I really respect all the work they did just to make us spending such a good time at Oberwesel. Sometimes they didn’t even have 3 hours sleep at night but each and everyday they stood in front of us, held this perfectly concepted presentations and made us feel comfortable.

I really would have loved to go there and be a regent next year because I really liked the thought of representing this years’ community and show them all those important things I learned this year. But due to some problems I haven’t even been able to participate in the elections.

One evening we also did the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, what was really interesting because you learned something more about our personality and how to lead and work in a group. It was really interesting to see how many different characters there are in a group and how important it is to many different characters there are in a group and how important it is to have them. It also showed us that we aren’t that different and that it isn’t all about where we come from.

To sum it up I am really proud that I was aloud to participate in such a great event. It felt so good to be part of it and to meet all those different people. Leadership skills are really important for the future and if you master those you will gain in any kind of way. But I really not only learned those skills I also learned some really important things about friendship and how to communicate with people I didn’t know that long but trust in them.

Shadé Sharaka

As Mr. Lambrechts said it would be, this trip was a great experience. Not only concerning the positive results regarding our group skills and self-confidence, but also because of the people we met there. For example, we met many Americans, and in my opinion the opportunities are very rare to meet them, because they are quite isolated in their bases. We also met people from distant countries such as Finland and Bahrain.

The daily programme was very well organized and quite tough. The things that kept me awake were the adrenaline, the excitement and, well, the Americans (no offence).

The reasons for which one should want to go to this institute are the following:

To sum it up, a great week that you should definitely go for.

Lorenzo Manganelli

 

As an ISLI participant of the year 2008, I think that ISLI( short for International Student Leadership Institute) was a very interesting experience: especially the cultural differences and the presentations which were demonstrated in a very absorbing way. I was also stunned by the very good organization of this marvellous event, and I learned a lot during the presentations and the activities connected to them. It was also very interesting to see all the differences there are between cultures, for example the eating habits of the Americans or the Finnish. I am very pleased to have participated in this extraordinary event and to have experienced and learned several things. I am glad not to have missed all this. It definitely helped the understanding of the cultures for each other, which was one of the main goals for this event, and I’m glad to have made a lot of new friends in that week, with whom I still am in contact, and would recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go there.

Sebastian Rauball