Learning to Be A Giving Geek

There was a brief period in time in my childhood where I was obsessed by pink (Yes, really, truly. You can ask my mother.). I had a pink room, and wore pink dresses and played with pink Barbies and everything was pink pink pink. I'm not sure why, but one day I woke up and decided that I hated pink and dresses and everything that was super frilly (I still liked Barbie though).

For a long time I was anti-pink. My mother tried to get me into a pink shirt for a choir thing (we all had to wear solid colored tees) and I was not. having. it. I was "into" black for a while, as much as my parents would like me (which wasn't a whole lot), and I've had blue and green clothing phases, too. Nowadays there's a lot of color, dominated by black, white, black and white, jewel tones, and definitely still a lot of green. I wear what I call Professional Geek Chic most of the time.

But it wasn't just a color shift back when I was 10 or so. It was personality shift. I became really bookish. I was the smarty pants. The know-it-all. I was fairly shy and reserved, though in high school I did finally get a group of close friends. My nickname in high school was "Hermione" (and a lot of my handles online reflect that with "BiblioHermione"). I was a nerd. Maybe even *gasp!*... a dweeb.*

In college, though, I managed to morph into the illustrious and highly sought after title of geek. I got a better grasp of how to socialize, found some of the most amazing young women to exist on the planet to be my friends**, lucked out by finding a job that introduced me to the awesomeness of computers and helping people while simultaneously providing me with a mentor and a chance for upward mobility (student manager: achievement unlocked). I found my niche. I found my footing as a confident and capable young woman, and started learning how I could be a Woman and a Geek at the same time.

One of the hardest things to learn, though, was to love and accept former self-nerd-dweeb-Erin. Acknowledging that I had things to learn to be a better person, a better RCC was sometimes hard. But with a close-knit set of friends that I met through work and my classes, I did it. (We pulled friends from work into classes. And friends from classes into work. And it all culminated in the Magical Year of 2008. That's another story, though.) Though a lot of love and support, we all learned that we had formidable skills and were Women To Be Reckoned With (Don't cross us. We will kill you with our minds. Just like River.).

One of the most valuable skills I learned, through college and continually through my job even now, is that part of being a Geek is striving to Be Awesome. (Barney Stinson fully agrees with me.) Having a very strong, self-confident personality is crucial to my Geekness. I don't take crap from people, though I've been learning lately about how to not take crap in a more polite and constructive manner. (Being belligerent doesn't work so well with people. HUH.) Learning to say "I don't know; let's find out" and being open about my knowledge levels has been important, too. Open to learning and brainstorming is equally part of the skill set that I've acquired, as has been "how to have open lines of communication" and "teaching/training people how to use things." While these skills aren't necessarily part of the standard Geek repertoire, they DO make me a very efficient, competent and capable Geeky Manager.

I've been blessed by good friends and role models, and part of me being a geek is giving that back. I'm pretty heavily involved in ResNet, Inc. I volunteer at a natural science museum, specifically working with the 5-10 age range using themed kits about anthropology and natural science (as well as photographer when they need one). I pay special attention to my student workers, making sure that they have the support and tools to grow and learn. I network like crazy for my friends. And I pay special attention to the girls, always. Women in science and tech need strong, supportive role models, and I fully intend to be one.

I am proud to be a Girl Geek. And I am proud to help make more Girl Geeks who are self-confident and strong. Because we're awesome.

*For the purposes of this post, I will be using the Great White Snark Venn Diagram of Nerd-Dork-Geek-Dweebness as my schema.


**For those of you living under rocks, I went to an all women's college. No, we did not have lesbian make out parties. We did throw awesome parties, though.