Forming leaders in Concordia’s global internships

With letters, postcards and currency from dozens of countries dressing the walls of his office, it becomes obvious that Samuel Spadoni, stays in touch with people from a variety of cultures.
Spadoni is the newly-elected President of the Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (AIESEC), a student run organization offering international internship opportunities to its members.
According to Spadoni, it is also the largest and longest serving student run non-governmental organisation, having chapters in 89 countries and global partners hiring hundreds of students every year.
Before he discovered AIESEC, to his own admission, Spadoni was the introverted type. Now, he is part of a worldwide community that has a track record of forming corporate leaders around the world.
“I have a friend that’s in Belgium right now and was [signed] by this company called InBev. They own companies like Labatt, Budweiser… just off the top of my head,” said Spadoni. “[Belgium] is their global headquarters, so she had this opportunity, through AIESEC, to go put her marketing skills that she learned at Concordia in Belgium.”
Spadoni recognizes that going abroad on an exchange program is an important learning experience for every student who has the chance to do so.
“People go abroad, they live in a different culture, they meet different people, they speak with different people and they probably learn a new language. When they come back, they’re a person with a broader horizon. They’re more open, they have experience to share,” he said.
From his office, Spadoni contemplates gifts from traveling interns. However, none of these items were brought in by him since he has yet to live the AIESEC experience.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to participate in an exchange yet, however I’m graduating in May and once I graduate, I don’t care where I go, but I want to go to another country, learn a new language and do something new,” Spadoni said.
Last year, as Vice President of External Relations for AIESEC, he decided to run for President in the hopes of gaining more experience.
“I thought it was appropriate for a [Human Resources] student to step it up to the next level and become the President and gain from all the benefits that this position has,” he says.
To Spadoni, the future looks bright, “in five to ten years, I want to be seen as a mover in an organization, somebody that’s going to have an impact and somebody that people will turn to…” he said. “Keep checking the papers and hopefully one day you’ll see me doing something big.”