On Being a Nerd

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my mid-20s, it’s that you can be a nerd about anything. This one piece of knowledge would have revolutionized my life during those tumultuous teenage years. I spent my high school career as a lonely videogame nerd and Japanophile (or are we calling ourselves “weeaboos” now?), and although I did have a fair number of friends, there were large swaths on the student body that were completely incomprehensible to me. But if everyone is nerdy in their own way, well that re-contextualizes everything! All the jocks, for instance, were just a bunch of sports and/or fitness nerds. And the impeccably-dressed popular girls? Nothing but a cadre of fashion nerds.

Playing videogames, watching anime, reading sci-fi and fantasy, or even LARPing isn’t what makes us nerds or geeks or whatever you want to call yourself: it’s our passion!