title:
- We need more chalant people on campus, so I started a community to help students overcome social anxiety (might host another performative male contest)
- Campus is too nonchalant and I wanna change that, so I started a community to help students push past social anxiety n be more chalant (and maybe host another performative male contest 😈)
v1
I’m currently in my final year, and I’m trying to give back and do something meaningful before I leave UCalgary. 2 months ago, I started a university club that I wish existed back in my first year.
In my first year, I was very shy and afraid to bring out my true self around campus. I wanted to go around and do fun challenges around campus but I was too afraid to do so. I hoped that I’d be able to find someone who can push me to do these things but I never found that person or community.
Now I’m noticing that I’m not the only person struggling with this problem. I’ve seen it in person, in this subreddit, and all around the internet.
So many of us are so nonchalant, not by choice, but because we are not courageous enough to be chalant
This is why I started The Chalant Society: to support every single person on campus in bringing out their true selves and live more meaningful lives. And while doing that, we strive to put out more positive energy around campus
We’ve been having weekly meetups since August where I only invite the first 5 people who sign up. If we get more people, it gets too overwhelming lol. In addition to that, I really wanna make the experience very personalized. We’ll meet you where your current social confidence is at and support you in growing it
Whether you’re brand new or already comfortable with doing socially uncomfortable things, we’ve got challenges that will get you just outside your comfort zone (kinda like rejection therapy challenges).
You can find us on the gram @thechalantsociety to see the kind of challenges we do. I generally don’t record during our meetups since I’m more focused on creating a joyous & rewarding experience for ppl
I’m making a Reddit post on this because I want to grow this community and make it a place where we can all support each other in letting go of everything that stops us from living authentic lives. So join our Discord server if you want to be part of that (link in insta bio) or upvote so others who need it would find it
v2
In my first year, I was very shy and afraid to bring out my true self around campus. I wanted to go around and do fun challenges around campus but I was too afraid to do so. I hoped that I’d be able to find someone who can push me to do these things but I never found that person or community.
Now in my final year, I’m noticing that I’m not the only one who struggled with that. A lot of us stay nonchalant, not by choice, but because we aren’t courageous enough to be chalant.
This is why I started The Chalant Society 2 months ago: to support every single person on campus in bringing out their true selves and live more meaningful lives. All while making the university less dead.
It took me three years to finally be able to do uncomfortable things because I was doing it alone. My goal is to help everyone do it in two months (before winter break)
Since August, we’ve been running weekly meetups (small groups, max 5 since I really wanna make the experience very personalized). Whether you’re brand new or already comfortable with social challenges, we’ve got challenges that will get you just outside your comfort zone (kinda like rejection therapy challenges).
You can find us on the gram @thechalantsociety to see the kind of challenges we do. I generally don’t record during our meetups since I’m more focused on creating a joyous & rewarding experience for ppl
I’m making a Reddit post on this because I want to grow this community and make it a place where we can all support each other in letting go of everything that stops us from living authentic lives. So join our Discord server (180+ members atm) if you want to be part of that (link in insta bio)
P.S. I know a bunch of you guys really want to run another performative male contest. Maybe this time an actual male would win😂 If this post reaches half the number of upvotes that post on it had, we’ll run it back😈 so 2.2k/2 = 1.1k upvotes
title: 8 months ago I started a weird little social courage experiment at UCalgary. Now I’m graduating and need someone to carry it forward.
8 months ago, I started The Chalant Society at UCalgary.
At the time it was a very simple idea:
campus is way too nonchalant.
Not because people do not care. But because a lot of people care deeply and are too afraid to show it.
That was me for most of university.
I loved the idea of seeking discomfort, talking to strangers, doing bold spontaneous things, and actually feeling alive around people.
But I was too afraid to actually live by it.
I spent years trapped in other people’s expectations of how I should act.
As if I had to follow a script for life.
So in my final year, I decided to build the thing I wish existed for me back then.
Since then, The Chalant Society has been this weird little social courage experiment on campus.
We’ve done weekly meetups. Tiny groups. Social challenges. Rejection therapy type stuff. Uncomfortable conversations. Random acts of courage.
Some moments were loud. Some were small.
But the point was always the same:
help people get out of their heads and into their lives.
The coolest part was watching people realize they are allowed to be seen.
Allowed to be a little awkward. Allowed to care. Allowed to do something that breaks the social script and not die from it.
Over these 8 months, this stopped being just me trying to become more courageous.
It became a real community.
A small one, yes. But real.
And on my last day at UCalgary, I got 20+ people to dance with me to the macarena during Strong Fest.
First year me would have thought that was impossible.
That’s why this hit me so hard.
Because this whole journey, from being socially anxious and trapped in my head to starting a community around social courage, happened here.
At UCalgary.
Now I’m graduating.
And I do not want this to end just because I’m leaving.
If The Chalant Society is going to become official at UCalgary, we need to apply before May 15.
For that, I need one student who actually wants to take this over.
Not someone who thinks it’s a cool idea.
Someone who cares enough to carry it. Someone who wants to make campus feel more alive. Someone who believes there are way more people here hiding than there are people truly living.
If that sounds like you, comment or message me.
And if you want to be part of this world even if you do not want to lead it, join the Discord.
We are going to keep growing this beyond the university too.
I also made a video breaking down the final chalant act from my last day and what was actually going on in my head before I did it. If ppl want, I can drop it in the comments.
Campus gets better when more people stop hiding.