Yes, there is a new club on campus. With numerous club activities taking place during common hours, you may wonder why one more? Well, it’s fair to say that you want to keep this one on your radar. It appears that the Chit Chat Club wants to stand out, as they bring unique opportunities to students. The club president, David Hammer, accepted the Vanguard’s request to interview him.
Vanguard: Hi David. How’re you feeling today?
David Hammer: I feel very good actually. And I hope the same goes for you.
V: Very much so, thank you. Before we start off, I want to thank you for your time. Now then, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
DH: My name is David Hammer. I’m majoring in business administration and currently one of my main goals is to build social confidence.
V: For you personally?
DH: Yes.
V: What has led you or guided you in creating this club?
DH: So, one of the things that led me there was… throughout my life, I’ve been on and off with being socially confident. Sometimes, I was very confident and other times I wasn’t. And no matter what I tried, I couldn’t be consistent with it. So, I’ve had other challenges in my life and one of the things that got me through those challenges was accountability. I thought if I worked along with other people on similar goals and held everybody accountable to that endeavor I would be more successful with everybody else.
V: So you believe that having shared goals with other individuals pushed you to do better in general?
DH: Yes. Exactly!
V: You mentioned accountability earlier. Did you hold yourself accountable for your choices or decision making? Or was it entirely something else?
DH: I guess I thought about it from the principals that I believe you can succeed on your own…on very tough challenges. You definitely need somebody on your back corner helping you. So that really helped me with other things in my life, and I want to bring that to my journey to become more socially confident. And what better way to do that than make this club where other people can also feel the satisfaction of being on that journey with other people like them.
V: Would the goal of the club be to help people build self confidence mainly? Or are there other aspects that will be involved? Tell me more about it…
DH: Yes. That’s the main goal. But the club will be mostly structured around helping people find themselves. And then channelling that energy they find from their self-discovery to become more socially self-confident. So yes, it will be very hands on [our workshops], and we will teach valuable social insights and skills. But most of the work will be actually done outside of the workshops, and that’s where it will be very important for students to engage with our social media channels. That way, they can help each other out and offer social advice and support. We’re ultimately hoping that what they take away from the workshops, they will apply them in their lives.
V: What will be your structural approach to the club meetings? What are some things that students should be aware of?
DH: I should say that the dynamic in our meetings will change over time along with the desires of our club members. In other words, it will mostly be fluid. If our club members want more hands-on than advice, then we will give them that. But if they are just looking for support and discussion, the club might morph into that. Yeah, it is extremely flexible. So, we’re going to think about our resources and the desires of our club members.
V: So, it’s not just about being socially involved, but to also consider what they want to achieve and what area they want to improve upon themselves?
DH: That’s right. Very flexible.
V: What are your thoughts on the importance for students in general to work with others when they share a common goal? Also, what would you say about students who may not feel comfortable talking or approaching other students?
DH: That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. It’s not going to happen overnight. We will give them the tools they can use outside the workshops to practice. In terms of building their own confidence, that’s something that has many layers to it. I think they should first show compassion towards themselves. If you don’t love yourself, you are not going to be able to give others the same respect. So, that’s going to also be a component of it. We’re not going to stress it as much only because a lot of people find it a little nuanced, but we are going to mention it in our club. If more people want it more often, we’ll include it in the long run.