To Geek or not to Geek
Posted: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
I knew I was a Geek pretty early on in my life. At age seven years, I wanted to know where babies came from. Not about the birds and the bees (gross!), but honest to goodness biology. My dad bought me a book that required a dictionary for me to understand it, but I just gobbled that all up. There were fairly explicit photographs and diagrams and Mom and I spent many evenings going over it all. I think that was about the time I decided that my ultimate goal in life was to become a "Scientist."
So what did my parents do? They decided to find out if I had any musical aptitude - they enrolled me in accordion lessons! Talk about Geeky. Worse yet, I had a real knack for it. Before long, I was out-playing the adults in the class. Luckily, my grandmother bought the family a piano and I was freed from the accordion only to have to take weekly piano lessons. At least that was more acceptable among my peers.
Seemingly suddenly, I discovered that I loved just knowing things. I think that is all a Geek ever is...and endless Desire-to-Know. My Geekness, however, never really settled in one area. I wanted (and still do) to know EVERYTHING. During my elementary school days, this put me in trouble with many of my classmates.
You know you are a Geek when:
Your classmates pick rotten oranges off the ground and pelt you with them during lunch break.
You like nothing better than sitting down with a good dictionary and reading about words.
You would rather stay after school and help your teacher set up the microscopes for the next day than play with your friends.
You are constantly correcting other classmates' grammar, even during recess.
You learn all your lines for the class play and everyone else's lines and correct them when they get them wrong.
Your teacher takes you out of the class play and makes you the prompter instead.
It continued on into junior high and high school, where I loved nothing more than dissecting fetal pigs, going on a fossil dig or mucking about in tide pools. The most exciting thing about spring break in Baja was that we would be looking for fossils! I could recite the periodic chart of the elements and I had my own microscope and chemistry set. We didn't have the words "geek" or "nerd" at that time, but at a reunion of our high school Field Science Club a few years back (yes, we had a reunion), we all agreed that we were then and still are now, Nerds.
At university, I majored in Biology with my specialty as Microbiology. I just loved the fungi, bacteria and viruses. I thought I was going to become a doctor. It was what my dad always wanted. The Biology majors had to take a certain amount of math (calculus was a pain) and physics (never had so much fun in a lab) classes to round out our education. The male math and physics majors were always trying to get me to switch my major from soft to hard science. Their rationale was that they needed more cute females. I was flattered, but I loved Biology.
I got married, received my Bachelor's degree and decided to take some time off and contribute financially to the marriage. I got a job in retail. It was a breeze compared to studying to be a doctor. Then life happened and I never went back. But I still love all the science programs on PBS. I read at least one article a day on Science Daily, and I still read the dictionary. This is how I found the word that became the name of my company.
Right now (and this may change as writing seems to have taken over my life), I am a jewelry designer and builder. How that grew out of intending to be a doctor is a long and boring tale, but it has allowed me to continue to embrace my Geekness. I have spent long hours learning everything I can about computers and the Internet in order to build my own website and promote my jewelry. Not to mention being fairly well along toward becoming a mineralogist.
I shall most likely continue to be a Geek for the rest of my life. I see nothing wrong in this. In fact, I think the world could use even more Geeks. And besides, Geek is a term of endearment, isn't it? To hear my husband coo, "Ooh, you are my little Geek," sends shivers down my spine!
This Article has been viewed 571 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)hi dianne, this was a well written and pleasant article to read. i don't think there's anything wrong with a thirst for knowledge, and i will stand behind your geekness:) remember steve erkyl on that TV show? my best regards, sueHi Sue, thanks for reading and commenting. I do remember Urkel, but I tend to identify more with Sheldon on "The Big Bang Theory." I find myself saying things very much as he might. Sometimes it distresses me, but mostly it makes me laugh at myself. Thanks for the Urkel memory...I think. Dianne (p.s. spell check thinks that is how the Erk spelled his name. I left it.)
Hi Dianne, loved your article. I think my husband is your brother! I love him dearly, he is my little geek. You two could probably talk about fossils, minerals and science for hours. God bless youHi Michelle and thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. I am glad that you enjoyed my article. So, you probably should talk to my husband. The two of you could swap "little geek" stories! Tell me, do you say "nucular" instead of "nuclear" and does it drive him crazy? :) Sometimes I feel sorry for my husband. Dianne
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.