Female. Age 18. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Likes long walks on the beach, candle-lit dinners and watching sunsets.
I used to cheerlead, babysit, and want to grow up to be a princess. Oh, and one more thing: I am a nerd.
I have been a closet nerd for some time, but I have only recently decided to be open about my social orientation.
No, I do not own a pocket-protector, play chess, nor do my friends belong to a Dungeons and Dragons club. Truthfully, I am a lame nerd.
I am not one of those girls that watches "The Hills" or follows the plot lines of "Gossip Girl" ardently. These new shows just are not for me; give me fantasy and science fiction over reality television any day!
Instead of watching the dubbed "teen dramas," I spend my Monday nights anxiously watching the stories of individuals with special powers who are currently being hunted by the government as my roommates roll their eyes and leave the room, lest they directly witness my nerdiness.
In all defense of my nerd tendencies, I was exposed to many of them by others. My dad has several science fiction and fantasy movies that he would watch with my brother and me since we were kids. And, I blame my best friend Kerry for my recent addiction to "Battlestar Galactica"; Lee Adama is currently the background of my laptop.
I have not been able to pinpoint the exact reason why I am drawn to this genre of television and film, nor can I explain my (almost) unhealthy attraction to grammar, but I don't need to understand the why. I just accept it.
I am proud of who I am, and if that gives me the label of nerd, I will wear it proudly.
So, here I am. Stumbling out of the closet in a most unflattering way by admitting this to you all at once, amidst a world full of normal people who don't know how to spell "Sectumsempra" or know the difference between Sauron and Saruman.
You see there is discrimination against "nerds." While I am fortunate enough to have been able to pass along somewhat normal and even bordering popular groups, there are fellow nerds who are stuffed into lockers and have their pocket-protectors stolen due to their lack of conforming to the standard of "cool."
Movies like "Revenge of the Nerds" stereotype the inherent enemy of nerds to be the jocks; however, this is different for us closet nerds. Some of us are not accepted by the true nerds simply because we don't wear glasses (although I do) or act and dress like Anthony Michael Hall in "The Breakfast Club."
Everyone has an inner nerd. Admit it, you do. Whether it is "Harry Potter," anime, "Star Trek," quantum physics, comic books, or "Lord of the Rings," it can most likely be defined as nerdy. So just get over it, you're probably a nerd anyway.
