Talk Nerdy With Us Writers Reveal: When Did I Realize I Was A Nerd

Talk Nerdy With Us writers are self-proclaimed nerds who geek out over television, movies, books, comic, etc. But when did they realize that they were nerds? To find out, read on.

Stacy: “Growing up in the ’70s as a child of the inner city, I realized that at a young age I was different from my peers. I had no interest in the TV, movies, music or books that they did. I preferred classic Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 40s, in particular the old monster movies with Boris Karloff as Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi as Dracula. I also liked Errol Flynn as Robin Hood. I guess Errol Flynn was my first “superhero”, next came the television series Wonder Woman starring Lynda Carter when I was 10 (I still watch re-runs of Wonder Woman on MeTV). In addition to horror and monster movies, I enjoyed sci-fi books and television shows. I would read Isaac Asimov and watch Star Trek, Lost in Space, Land of the Giant, The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. As I got older, Japanese anime shows like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon became my passion. And I have to admit, I am probably the world’s oldest Power Rangers fan!

Comic books were also my passion. My favorites were Spiderman and Superman. I thought that Peter Parker was the coolest. He was smart and had an awesome superpower. In 1992, I developed an obsession with King Arthur and read anything and everything I could get my hands on. My favorite book on the King Arthur/Merlin Saga was The Mists of the Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

As I got older, I discovered television shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. I would go to sci-fi Conventions in Valley Forge, PA.

Next came sci-fi/Horror television shows Buffy:The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Charmed and Roswell. Today, it’s Supernatural, iZombie, The Flash, Arrow and Beauty and the Beast.

I just always had an interest in nerdy things and I’m proud of it.

AJ: “I’ve always been something of a nerd with my love of books, TV shows, and movies, but I think the first time I realized I was a nerd was back in junior high when I became obsessed with comic books. I would read them, write stories about them (I didn’t really know what fanfiction was at that time), and I even taught myself to draw by looking at them. That nerdy obsession carried on through my first couple of years in college, where it kind of fizzled due to lack of a nearby comic book store.

The nerd reemerged in a different form in my early twenties when I became fascinated with serial killers and forensics. While not quite the traditionally “nerdy” interests, I was very much a nerd with how much I enjoyed reading and learning about both.

My next nerd-volution came in my late twenties when I was introduced to World of Warcraft, and an MMORPG addict was born. I played almost religiously, though I wasn’t very good, and at one point ran the largest social/leveling guild on my server. WoW was actually the thing that brought me and my husband together. We played WoW, then Rifts, then Star Wars: The Old Republic before we both drifted away from MMORPGs.

During that time my husband started teaching me about tabletop RPGs. I started with AD&D, then Pathfinder. This brought me around to the convention circuit, with my first Phoenix Comicon in 2012, which opened my eyes to the world of…

Cosplay! My latest hobby-slash-obsesssion has opened my eyes to the joy of expressing my love of books, TV shows, and movies through costumes. My first cosplay was at Phoenix Comicon 2013, where I dressed up as River Song from Doctor Who. I was nervous about it, but when a little 7- or 8-year-old girl got excited and said “Mommy, look! It’s River Song!” I was hooked. My next cosplay was an original character at Phxcc 2014, and this past Phoenix Comicon I did a few cosplays. I’m working on a big one for next year, and I’ve even gotten my husband hooked. We’re going to be a cosplay couple at Phxcc 2016!

Finally, I secured my nerd-dom when I signed on to write for Talk Nerdy With Us, a website where I can be as openly nerdy as I want without feeling out of place.”

Erica: “Umm…let’s see…I guess I figured out I was a nerd when I turned 13. I was so so so worried about becoming a teenager. Everyone I’d been friends with who had turned 13 had become obsessed with makeup and clothes and boys and I was terrified that was going to be me.

When I turned 13 and I realized that while I’d gotten more talkative and started to notice boys, I’d more gotten weird rather than clothing and makeup obsessed.

I started writing stories. I stilled played with Barbies, but I used them to “act out” the stories that I was writing, to help me figure out what the plot was going to be, how the scenes were going to play out. I knew it wasn’t “normal” and I wouldn’t talk about it with anyone except my best friend who would play with me and help me with the storytelling.

So yeah, I guess that’s when I figured out I was a nerd. That and I was always teacher’s pet and got straight A’s, soooo…yeah. There’s that, too.”

Shadia: “Hmm, when did I realize I was a nerd? The moment I came out of my mother’s womb. HAHA! Seriously though, it’s always been apart of me. As a kid, I wasn’t the type that played outside with other kids. I just liked to be at home with either a good book in my hand or a TV show that I kept up with every week.

I’ve always been a nerd and I love it! I still geek out about my favorite authors releasing a new book. The reason I call myself a TV fanatic is because of my love for TV characters and plots. It’s always intrigued me thinking what if real life was like this! I love being apart of a fictional world, whether it be a TV show or a book or anything that is interesting to learn about. It was my escape and it still is.

So from an early age I adapted this way of life and stuck with it through elementary, middle, & high school. And amazingly it’s still with me today as a college student!

And the fact that I’m part of a writing team named “Talk Nerdy With Us” makes it all the more great for me. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a nerd?”

Talya: “So… When did I first realize I was a geek. To be honest I don’t think there was one specific moment. It was more like a painting taking shape. Little by little each brush stroke of my life started to make me into the geeky painting I’ve become today.

The first brush stroke was probably me discovering the original Battlestar Galactica. Every time I watched it I sat transfixed as I watched this merry band of explorers do their best to stay alive and find their new world. It sucked me in right from the beginning. It had 2 things I related to.

1: Muffet. I am a TOTAL sucker for animals. Especially ones that remind me of dogs. So SWISH! first geeky paint stroke planted on the canvas.

2: It had a kid, around my age, on it when I discovered it. It didn’t hurt that I thought he was kind of cute. Yeah, yeah, yeah sue me I started liking boys young. SWISH! geeky stroke number 2.

So that started my journey down the path of being a geek. It honestly wasn’t until years and year later that I finally said “Screw it! I’m a geek and proud to be a strong, somewhat intelligent, female geek..” When I was young being called a geek was just as bad as yelling the “f” word in a crowded church. Which I carried around for many, many years.

If you were female it was even worse. Not only were the people around you telling you that being a geek was wrong for a girl but so was sci-fi. Yes, my beloved genre told me that what I felt inside was wrong. If you look at old sci-fi the woman are all beautiful and feminine. They all needed a man to get them out of whatever tight spot they were in. Even my beloved Princess Leia. As strong as she was she still needed the help of 2 men.

It wasn’t until years later that I found Samantha Carter. She was the final brush stroke in my acceptance of being a geek and being a female. She was beautiful. She was intelligent. Most importantly she was able to take care of herself and she never made any excuses or compromised who she was to fit in any mold. She gave me the confidence to say who cares if I’m a geek? It makes me happy. Who cares if I have opinions? I’ll share them and you can make up your own mind. I can be a geek and still be a feminine woman.

Hopefully my painting is far from being done but so far I think it’s turning out to be a beautiful painting of a strong, somewhat intelligent, geeky woman. And I’m a much happier person for it. :)”

Arlene: “I always knew I was different. Like Lady Gaga says, I was born this way. I was already reading and writing stories at ten, and by 11 was drawing and writing comic books. I was pretty much a loner with my nose stuck in a book. Very stereotypical. I used to get teased about being a librarian, which back then was an insult. I’d be an old spinster with lots of cats, which is probably why it took me so long to go back to get my masters in library science.

I knew I liked TV shows like Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and Star Trek. My mom saw Psycho in the theater when she was pregnant with me, so I was quite literally born a horror movie fan. In high school I had a crush on this lad who learned to speak and write Elvish from Tolkien. I was a drama and art geek in my junior-senior years in high school- took art, Piano, choir, and drama. I also played guitar.

My first mayor was radio and TV communications. But I got a job at a 1 hour photo and began doing concert photography . I was a band nerd. But it wasn’t until 1983 , when I went to my first convention did l discover my people, my tribe, and to quote Felicia Day, I was finally able to embrace on my weird! Finally, people like me!!!! Buying my first set of dice was like an epiphany!!! So maybe I was born weird but didn’t come “home” until my early twenties and I have never looked back!”

Jenni: “I have always been a fan of nerdy things, but it didn’t hit me that I was a “nerd” until I was 15. I was in band (which the entire school thought was lame), I loved watching Sailor Moon, Power Rangers, and Pokemon, and my friends and I would occasionally write Elizabethan fanfic (a hobby that we started at 13).

Yes, some of these actions had me ridiculed, but I mostly didn’t care. My friends shared my nerd-ness (okay, maybe not Pokemon) and that’s all that mattered.

It also helped that my dad fostered my love for sci-fi. We’d watch Star Wars and Star Trek together.”

Alexis: “I realized I was a nerd when I was about seven or eight years old. The reason for my discovery for all things nerdy came from my dad. He enjoys sci-fi and I remember every time the original trilogy of Star Wars was playing on television he would always stay on the channel and watch the movies the whole way through. I was curious to know what he was watching and sat down next to him and was immediately pulled in. I had so many questions that I’m pretty sure my dad got annoyed with me after a half hour into the movie. Since then for me, it had been a non-stop marathon of all things nerdy. Whether it was going through any DC or Marvel comics I could get my hands on or playing Super Mario Brothers on my Gameboy, watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the prequels to Star Wars, the Star Trek series, to watching my first superhero movie 2002’s Spiderman. I was soaking everything in and enjoying every second of it.

I can also remember the feeling of trying to keep what I loved a secret. Every night I would watch the latest series in the Power Rangers franchise, then immediately watch Digimon after because I couldn’t get enough. Then on later nights I would watch the 1990s re-runs of the X-men and Spiderman series. I would always watch them at home but never spoke about them at school because at that time I didn’t feel comfortable showing my knowledge of anything that was considered a boy’s genre. As I got older I realized that being a nerd wasn’t about being gender specific. If anything I got more comfortable with myself and realized that I could talk about my love for comics, movies, gaming, and anything else that I enjoyed that was considered “nerdy” with both boys and girls alike because today it almost seems it is a right of passage, and once Hollywood embraced nerdy, it was as if an invitation was sent out and anyone could participate. Fans of sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, the supernatural, and everything in between were getting a front row seat to their childhood coming to life.

One of my all time goals is to go to San Diego Comic Con and sit at my favorite panels and be in the atmosphere of people enjoying their passion for everything nerdy. Being a nerd for me is a never-ending discovery because there is always something new to get excited about at to know that this type of fandom can go on for generations is a sign that it’s impact has changed and influenced so many people, and for that nerds everywhere should be proud.”

Jackie: “I don’t think there was one definitive moment in which I knew that I was a nerd. As a child, I was always very passionate about the books that I read and the video games that I played. There was usually one series of books, movies, video games, etc. that I was more obsessed with than others, which inspired me to want to talk about them to my family and friends. I think my first ever nerd obsession was with the “Harry Potter” series. I got the first book for Christmas when I was twelve years old and fell instantly in love. I was the kid that stayed up until 4:00 am because I couldn’t put the new book down, that went to the midnight book releases and that secretly hoped a Hogwarts acceptance letter would come in the mail. I was the poster-child of a nerd when it came to “Harry Potter,” but I wouldn’t say that was the moment that the nerd aspect of myself was born.

No, I think I became a nerd the moment that I learned how to read. I’ve always been fascinated by books; their ability to transport people to other worlds and impact people in positive or negative ways is something that I’ve always admired. Once I learned that there were intricate, complex universes contained within those paper pages, I was a goner. I devoured every book that I could get my hands on–fiction, nonfiction, autobiographies, etc. However, it was the fantasy genre that held the highest place of honor in my heart.

Altogether, I think I’ve been a nerd for so long that I can’t be anything else anymore. I’m a nerd for life–which is why it’s a good thing that I’m a part of the Talk Nerdy team!

Tracy: “When I was very young, I wanted to be a Poet Laureate. I just remember loving poetry so much and writing small verses for my mother. I had learned about Poet Laureates and fantasized that I would somehow be “discovered” as a poet. I was heartbroken when that didn’t happen.
I was also enchanted by anything involving the British Royal Family. Beginning with Queen Victoria and her royal consort, Prince Albert, I used to like to study the familial connections with other European bloodlines. In addition, I was enamored by all things regarding the Kennedys as well as FDR.

English poets were my reading pleasure. Shakespeare topped my list as did Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. For American poets, I spent countless hours with Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost.

As a child of the 1970s, I enjoyed the Sunday night Masterpiece Theatre presentation. My favorite was the original Poldark starring Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees. Another favorite Masterpiece Theatre offering of mine was Upstairs, Downstairs.

Reflecting on my nerdy passions, I realize that poetry and history have and always will hold a special place in my heart.”

Debbi: “I knew I was different from most kids by the time I hit third grade. I chose Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe” as my book report project. The others were barely reading Nancy Drew. The difference became more and more evident the older I got. I was a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings book and started playing Dungeons and Dragons with the nerdy boys in high school.

I would have to say that my nerdiness was confirmed for me when I started attending Gen Con in Wisconsin. It was in the mid ’80’s the area’s largest gaming and fantasy convention. I discovered Renn Faires at about the same. My ex-husband was introduced to me as “he likes Star Trek and all that weird stuff you do”. It ended up not being a match made in nerd heaven, but I owned my nerdiness from that point forward, often taking pride in my off-the-wall interests. I fly my nerd flag loud and proud!”