Llorene

Such a coincidence that as I write this Coldplay's The Scientist is playing- ahh the memories.
As I sit here and reflect -- I simply cannot think of how my university career would have been were it not for AIESEC.

The late night conversations during team retreat, sitting on the cold glass floor of the CN tower while trying to set our vision for the year, the late nights spent just chilling in the AIESEC office, the countless awards won-- all just some of the priceless moments that I can think of. I'm sure there are tons. I can still remember our first summer as execs and how many problems and challenges we faced. But we pulled through-- and a stronger team emerged.
Veronica, Shez, Vai, Ayami and Felix-- I'm eternally grateful for you guys. You all have been such a support system for me- and I know and very much hope that our friendships will carry on.

I may not be a VP anymore-- but I do know that other opportunities are out there for me and I simply cannot wait to tackle these new challenges.

To the new team-- I wish you luck in the coming year. You are an incredible group of people and I have such a great feeling that you will take AIESEC York to greater heights.

(Now with this new found time on my hands I am thinking of taking up a new hobby-- perhaps this is a good time to train for the Olympics :)

My frustrations with the Philippines is the fact that they seem to know how to overthrow a government-- as we have seen with Edsa 1 (the overthrowing of President Marcos), and Edsa 2 (with the impeachment of President Estrada), yet they don't seem to know how to come up with a system that would have stability and sustainability for the future.

Recently, there has been a coup against the latest president-- President Arroyo, and in return she has put the country under a state of emergency.

Emily, you're totally right. Juanes and John Legend cannot be compared. I love both of their music. However, I have a special place in my heart for John Legend. He's incredible! I saw him in concert twice-- once last summer in July, and then again in the fall-- where he played in a more intimate setting. He's an awesome performer and I am so glad that I was introduced to his music. I especially love his reggae rendition of "Used to Love You" that he performs in concert. I've been trying to find that track but have been unsuccessful.

Congrats to JL too for winning 3 Grammies. I wore my John Legend shirt the next day as a tribute :)

My favourite tracks (though I truly love them all):
"Used to Love You"
"Ordinary People"
"Don't Let me Be Misunderstood" Acoustic version

(Lyrics from Ordinary People)
"We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow

...I hang up you call
We rise and we fall
And we feel like just walking away
As our love advances
We take second chances
Though it's not a fantasy
I Still want you to stay "

My taste in music varies. Since the summer, however, I've been listening to a lot of Spanish music. One particular artist that I enjoy, apart from John Legend, is Juanes- an awesome Colombian artist. I highly highly recommend his music. Here's an excerpt from one of his songs, "Que Pasa". Essentially-- he's asking himself what's going on in the world-- with all the war, and no love. The tune is also quite catchy.

Here are some excerpts from a book I'm currently reading- Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee. There are actually two books that they wrote of Primal Leadership-- this one is Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence.

"Great Leaders move us. They ignite our passion and inspire the best in us. When we try to explain why they are so effective, we speak of strategy, vision, or powerful ideas. But the reality is much more primal: great leadership works through the emotions."

"No matter what leaders set out to do-- whether it's creating strategy or mobilizing teams to action-- their success depends on how they do it. Even if they get everything else just right, if leaders fail in this primal task of driving emotions in the right direction, nothing they do will work as well as it could or should."

"NO creature can fly with just one wing. Gifted leadership occurs where heart and head- feeling and though- meet. These are the two wings that allow a leader to soar."

More to come as a I keep reading :)

Good times at this year's AIESEC York Executive team retreat-- held in Welland. Surprisingly, spending 56 hours straight in a small space with the team didn't drive us insane. Well... not totally. There were some talk of unicorns and UFOs. Enough said.

After much delay- I finally have some time to fill out this Quiz that Pnut has tagged me with.

Three names you go by:
1) Llorene
2) Yen
3) Llolo

Three Things That Scare You
1) Not living up to my parents' expectations
2) Not knowing what I'm going to do in the future
3) Clowns

Three of Your Everyday Essentials
1) Lip Gloss
2) Phone
3) Keys

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now
(Honestly, I've just woken up- and so I'm in my pajamas.)
1) Pajama bottoms
2) t-shirt
3) pajama top

Three Things You Need in a Relationship (other than Real Love)
1) Trust and honesty
2) Light-hearted humour (including inside jokes)
3) Communication

Two Truths and a Lie (in any order)
1) I'm the youngest of three.
2) I have 3 wonderful nephews.
3) I'm shy.

Three PHYSICAL Things about the Opposite Sex that Appeal to You:
1) Eyes
2) Smile
3) Nice teeth :)

Three of Your Favorite Hobbies
1) Painting Abstract pieces
2) Photography and making digital collages
3) Gossiping (is that a hobby?? :)

Three Things You want to do really badly right now
1) Hang out with my friends
2) Fly off somewhere exotic -- or travel anywhere and everywhere!
3) Bubble tea- yum yum!

Three Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1) Give my parents a gift of an unbelievable tour of wherever they want to go.
2) See the pyramids.
3) Win an olympic gold :)

Three Ways that you are stereotypically a Girl/Guy
1) My lipgloss necessity.
2) Hair obsession-- (all I worry about is whether or not it flips.)
3) I can't really throw a ball.

Three people I would like to see take this quiz
1) Eldon
2) John Kelly
3) Vaithegi

House committee OKs shift to parliamentary gov't

I recently came across this piece of news from the Philippine Inquirer . It seems that the government has recently approved it so that the government will shift to a parliamentary form of government. I'm not really sure how it will work since I've only known the Philippines to have a Presidential form of government, and now there will be both a Prime Minister and a President. Perhaps this is a good way to keep a balance of power for both sides, especially with the role of the President. Hopefully it turns out well-- and may actually minimize the corruption that occurs within the government. But I guess we'll see...