Embracing my nerdiness/geekiness

Recently my brother posted a comic on his Facebook saying how he could relate to it because growing up as a kid, he felt he had to hide his inner geekdom. He felt he had to repress it for some reason.

According to my mom it probably had something to do with the fact that he was bullied in school growing up. I can understand this and can actually relate.

I've said numerous times in my blog posts how I was left out or even picked on by people growing up. I was picked on at the Recreation Center After-School program AND the Summer Camp program. To this day, I still really don't like going to the Rec Center because of what happened to me. The bad memories still linger. There were also a couple of 8th graders when I was in 7th that hassled me for some reason.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in a blog post yet, but I've also been threatened by people I thought were my friends. There was a disagreement or something going on between a friend of mine in High School and myself and somehow it ended up being brought to another girl (who I considered a friend) and she threatened me.

I've been bullied and made fun of. I've been left out. I've been an outsider and technically, I still consider myself to be one.

But the thing is, I've never really have seemed to be ashamed of my nerdiness/geekiness.

As far as I can remember, I've never really tried to hide any of it. I mean sure there were a some times where I wished to be popular but I've never really tried to hide who I was. Not really. Not really even in Junior High. 

I've always been nerdy/geeky. It's just who I am. I've never tried to be something otherwise. I've always love school and learning. I loved science from a young age. I loved Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus and also Bill Nye the Science Guy. I especially loved reading books and libraries.  In other words, I've been a nerd all my life. I was born that way.

I guess that's the difference between my brother and I. I never tried to hide who I was.  Sure there have been plenty of times where I've wished I was different. Who doesn't wish that at times?

I've embraced my nerdy and geeky self. Especially over the past several years. I've especially embraced being a nerd ever since I discovered the NERDFIGHTER community.

That's what  I think finally solidified for me that it was ok to be a nerd. That being a nerd was great and something that should be embraced.

While I never exactly hid who I was, Hank and John Green really gave me the opportunity to be who I really am. They were really the reason that I fully embraced my nerdiness while I was in college.They made it cool to be a nerd. They embraced their nerdiness and basically made it ok to be a nerd.

Being a nerd now is so different. Being a nerd can be cool thanks to the Vlogbrothers. The community they've created. They've inspired so many people. Thanks to them and the Powers of YouTube and the Internet, children growing up can be happy to be nerds. They can be proud to be nerds. It's a way for them to be celebrated.

I love being a nerd. It's who I am and who I choose to be. When people call me a nerd now, I take it as a compliment. I am a nerd and I pretty much always have been.