During my high school years, I was a major geek. I miss those days. My wardrobe consisted of a Star Trek t-shirt and a communicator. My bedroom was covered in Star Wars poster, aliens and glow in the dark stars. It was while watching TV one night that I noticed a trend in being geekish.
Let me tell you as a teenager this Indie Girl was the original geek. Being geek back then was not the in thing. Wearing a Star Trek shirt made me a target for ridicule and bullying. You know how it is in high school; popularity is the key to survival, so you’d better act and look like everybody else. Despite my low popularity level, I still continued to be myself. I am glad to look back on those days and remember how I stayed true to myself. I didn’t follow the pack in clothing or in lifestyle. True it hurt to be ridiculed, but then you grow up and realize that even grownups treat each other poorly.
Being a geek in high school taught me that it’s the people who are different that are the people you can learn the most from. If even I had taken the time to get to know the different people in my school (instead of fearing what people would think) I could have experienced many awesome friendships.
During college, traveling and even my time in Topeka, Kansas I met some amazing people who I wish had been with me during high school. I’ve gotten to know, artists, photographers, musicians, and thinkers. I may not have agreed with everything they believed in, but it expanded my horizons and helped me to explore my own creativity. Oh what we miss when we don’t take the time to learn from others.
It’s the geeks who go against the grain. It was a geek who argued that the world was not flat, a geek who invented the light bulb, and a geek who created the world of Harry Potter. We wouldn’t have gone to the moon if it hadn’t been for geeks.
To me, being Indie is learning things from different people. By taking the time to talk with people who are not like you, it will surprise you how much you can learn. Being geek should not be a trend; just be you. Don’t be afraid to think differently, and don’t be afraid to get to know others.
So today I will wear my Star Wars t-shirt (I outgrew my Star Trek one) proudly.
Now this Indie Girl most go and create something! J
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| Me During My Geek Days |
- Drawing Above: Indie Girl in Jeans and A T-Shirt By Shelli Bullard Trowbridge
