- 6th July -


Some of the moments outside of the conference proper are the ones I will most cherish. Card games in the lobby, Ahmad's crazy card tricks, and the amazing football game we played between the trees in the park behind the university. One of the best things was the number of different nationalities alone, in this one football match. We could call each player their home country - everyone in our team was from a different place! Canada, Portugal, Holland, Germany, India, Sweden, Jordan, and me, Malaysia.

I'm sitting in the half-empty 2am bus to Madrid as i write this post. The moon, though already waxing from its fullness of a few days back, still shines brighter than the dim lights in the bus. The land gently sloping away from the highway is lit by moonlight - it's peaceful, perfect for thinking and reflecting. (and of course, writing blog posts). 
The thing in front of my mind at the moment, though, is people - faces, smiles, words, handshakes, embraces. The conference's most important component was its people, and out of the 250 of us plus organisers, facilitators and speakers, I think I only really got to know less than 50. My one regret is not having enough time to interact with more people. 


As the country slips past, I'm also thinking of what to me were the most important messages of the conference. That we have nothing to fear, least of all failure - 'I am enough'. That the most important thing is to start somewhere, and keep going. Seeds of an idea for something I can do are slowly taking shape already. For me though, I know the biggest danger will be letting the lessons and inspiration of the conference slip away by not acting, by overthinking, by hesitating, by finding excuses. If I act at all, it must be while everything is still fresh. 

- 5th July -


AAAnd it's Thursday. Time has just slipped by.

Today is my group's slot for the nature walk. We took the path behind the university runs past a river. Lots of beautiful green, massive oak trees - I never stop getting surprised at the beauty of Segovia. It is a cold, overcast morning, the second one in four days. After some stretching, we spend 15 minutes just being still, each in (relative) isolation, listening and feeling the nature around us, and spending time with our own thoughts. Later we were told about 'organized chaos', how organisms like bees, carrying out seemingly random motions, are part of a functioning, balanced system.

On to Diogo and Joao, founders of the Transformers Project, who told us, as usual, about their project and journey. They spoke about building ourselves from things that we take from our barriers, and about making tough decisions - the cost of moving out of your familiar zone

Who are you?
What took you so long?
Now that you're here, what are you doing?
What would you feel when you've reached where you want to get to?
If you could do it all over again, what would you do?

Five interview questions from filmmaker Sebastian Lindstrom. These words carry so much weight. What took you so long? What took us so long?

Looking back, we have had amazing speakers throughout the conference tell us their own stories. Though some projects connect more with certain people, and some not so much,  having all these people talk to us really achieves its aim - all these seemingly normal people, sharing their larger-than-life achievements give us a sense that we are adequate - inspiring by showing us that we can actually forge ahead and achieve something.

One very striking thing is the way the speakers, like Diogo and Joao, just start talking to every single person they meet, whereas most of us at the start generally keep to those we know, then slowly get to know more people, and acclimatize. Maybe this is due to their experience, their habits of seizing the moment, jumping straight in. It is certainly something to learn from.

And today, we prototype. We bring together the previous days' efforts, construct models and put on finishing touches, and then we present projects to everyone else.

After dinner, instead of karaoke, we head down to the park and play football between the trees.

- July 4th - 

Wednesday! For today's speaker session we listen to the stories of Holalabs' founders - Luis and Alberto.

They tell us about the obstacles they face starting their own projects and businesses at such a young age - and then tell us about the benefits, which outweigh the difficulties. 


When you are young, there is margin for failure - and there is everything to be gained through failure.

Mistakes have to be made. You can't make an omelet withought breaking some eggs - always better to try, fail, try again. There doesn't exist a startup project or organization which didn't have to weather chaos and uncertainty at some point.

Sophie Umazi's project, though, i find somewhat less concrete than the others, the actualizing of its goals somewhat vague. Has her campaign brought about any actual change in the regimes of the leaders she tells us about? I definitely have some questions to ask her.

Back in groups, we think about the problem we've identified - Having defined, we now brainstorm for ideas and solutions - the day before we narrowed our scope and focused, but today we are encouraged to let our minds flare in any direction.

Group sessions were followed by the day's special events - the Global Village, a showcase of culture, and at night, the talent show. Both were energetic, magical events - joyous and filled with spontaneity.

I really really need to write something about all the other students - although to do them proper justice would take a far, far bigger space than this.
When you bring together some 250 exceptional people from around the globe I guess one could not expect anything less - amazing characters of every hue, some brimming with life, some equally full of quiet competence. Everyone, everyone here is an amazing individual, with amazing experiences. just being in the presence of these people is an awing and humbling experience.

- 3rd July -


Today, Max and Conchita introduce the Design Thinking Method to us in more detail, after keynote speakers Sarah Larsson, an IB alumnus working in Kenya, and Rocco Falconer, founder of Planting Promises.

Sarah left us thinking with her story of how her inexperience and curiosity gave her the greatest advantage in the place she was. The ability to listen is such an important skill - if you want to solve a problem, what you know isn't nearly as important as what people can tell you.

A striking message about empathy:  Empathy isn't putting youself into someone else's shoes - it is knowing how they feel in their own shoes. What another person thinks and feels, in their situation, their life, given their collective experiences and upbringing, and everything else that makes them an individual. There is a crucial difference between the two, and it is one that we often neglect to our loss.

In between speaker sessions at the hall and work with our groups, or lunch/dinner breaks, there are bits of free time for us to mix around with othere people, explore the place, or simply sit on the grass in the open centre quad of the university. Everyone just looks so in place, finding their spots and corners and settling down in various groups.

In our GATs today, we learn how to observe and interview with the 'Empathy Diagram'. We also come up with a situation we want to change, and later move on to the 'Define' step, where we clearly imagine an individual who needs what we might offer, what they say and how they might think, and what insights we can get from those.

Today's theme was engagement through Sports, and we were brought to the public swimming pool to cool off. I don't think I'd been in a swimming pool that cold before - most of us just stayed in for a few minutes and came back out.

We got a football from somewhere, went across the road where there was a really nice football pitch, and just got into teams and had an absolutely great game - one of the best things in the conference so far. Sports can certainly bring people together.

Have I mentioned that the food is great? If I  haven't, yes, the food is great.

Posts from day 2 to 5 will be coming out together.. Internet was patchy at best back in the Hotel, and in the school, truth be told, there was simply too much going on to sit down and write blog posts!

- 2nd July. -

After opening speeches by IBO director general Jeff Beard and president of IE university Santiago Iñiguez, the conference kicks off with keynote speaker Houston Spencer. 

Crowd-exciting speakers aren't really my cup of tea - nontheless, Houston Spencer is a great speaker with an essential message - his keynote establishes the mindset we need for the conference, and after it. How to look inwards as well as around us, how hubris and humility can go hand in hand - how a leader defines reality, says thank you at the end, and is a servant in between. The first part, defining reality, is itself a simple yet profound concept to think of - how hubris can be the vision needed to change reality.

Lotfi al-Ghandouri from the 'Are You Ready 4 Us' project is up next, also with thought-provoking words about finding who we are, what we love, what we excel at, and taking steps to moving big things.

To initiate learning the Design Thinking process, we meet with our 'Global Action' groups for the first time, and come up with ideas for a service our groups can offer to benefit everyone else in the conference.

After dinner, we skip the film and walk the short distance out to town in small groups. At this time most shops are closed, and the streets are quiet. Up close, the aqueduct looks even more impressive. I walk back to Candido with a group of other boys. It takes me a while to realize the sun is still shining brightly at 10pm because its summer. We are also just in time to catch the rising of the full moon - here in Spain it looks bigger than I have ever seen it before. 

The Aqueduct

IE's architecture is beautiful. The way the sun catches in the angles, the feel of raw stone and mortar, the atmosphere of solemn age - it is beautiful in a way you feel, in a way words cannot really describe.

Bit of IE

SPAIN 4-0 Italy!!

Euro 2012 final in the Aula Magna

3 and a half hours to Chennai, 10 and a half hours to Brussels, 2 and a half hours to Madrid, and another 2 hours' coach ride to Segovia...here I am, finally, at the Candido Hotel!

Spain is lovely. For someone from the tropics like me, it feels like a huge air-conditioned space - nice and chilly even though the Summer Sun is blazing. The vast, open, spaces dotted with trees look so peaceful - the houses and buildings, clumped together in towns, are beautiful.