Australia: Mangalorean Damian appointed AIESEC’s student director

Mangalore Today News Network

Press Release

Australia, Nov 5: Damian D’Souza basically hailing from Mangalore and currently pursuing his education here has been appointed as the University Relations director of AIESEC Macquarie.

The Macquarie branch of the largest student-run organization in the world, AIESEC, held elections last week for their 2011 executive committee.

AIESEC is an international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential so as to have a positive impact on society. AIESEC Macquarie organizes leadership events, networking opportunities, overseas internships and social activities.

“The main goal of AIESEC is to help students go abroad so they can have a life-changing experience,” says second-year Bachelor of Accounting student Damian.

Damian joined AIESEC last semester on advice from friends. “The earlier you join groups such as AIESEC, the better. I had heard of AIESEC from friends back home and it sounded really interesting. When I actually joined in my second year at Macquarie, it was even better than it sounded.”

Damian says AIESEC has also helped him step outside his comfort zone and meet new people from across the university community. “I’ve met the Dean of Students, Julian De Meyrick, and the Executive Director of Campus Experience Deidre Anderson. I also went to the University of Sydney and got to speak with other members of AIESEC outside Macquarie.”

“AIESEC has given me the confidence to express myself – last week I was the MC of an AIESEC event called the World Issues Forum. We looked at global issues such as equality and the environment.” The event featured guest speakers from Caritas Australia, World Education Australia, the Sustainability Office on campus and Oxygen, a motivational youth organization.

Eight positions on the executive committee at Macquarie were up for election last week, six positions with a year-long tenure and two with six-month tenure.

Damian is the son of Mark Denis D’Souza, owner of Fortuna Engineering, LLC and Leny D’Souza. Lavita, Renita and Ryan are his siblings.