Geekdom

Oldest daughter sent a link to this fabulous song called The Nerd Anthem. Ooooohhhhh, this is sooooo me!!!!!

We are working on the third generation of female geekdom from me to Oldest Daughter to Only Granddaughter (who is now 6). I'm so very proud!!!!



It was odd growing up as a misfit (isn't it always?). Taking all college-prep classes in high school (okay, I cheated and took chorus as my only "get an easy A" class and that was ONLY because I loved to sing!) made me a target for the "let's beat up the weird hapa-haole girl" crowd. Fortunately, the ability to get people laughing got me out of injury on four separate occasions, so I never actually got beaten up, but they sure were close calls!

College put me in heavy male to female ratio classes. I got to experience dance partners that spent the entire dance talking about themselves without ever asking about me. Boys that asked me what I was majoring in (microbiology) who then made fun of my major (what? you aren't majoring in home ec?) were supremely annoying and all too common. The topper was the advisor that assured me that I'd never marry and have kids if I became a doctor. And I believed him (okay, I wasn't as smart as I should have been and it took many years before I grew a backbone). The Dark Ages was a really strange time to be female and smart.

BUT, I got to teach microbiology and chemistry to my kids. (Yep, I got married and had kids. I just didn't become a doctor.) I made up weird games to "increase their IQs". We had a gazillion Legos and Lego electronics long before they were mass marketed. I taught the kids to read before they went to school. We had the first CD player in the neighborhood. And the very first Mac in the area. The kids grew up with technology. Gosh it was fun to teach the kids to love science. And reading. And learning for its own sake. Geekdom for certain.

I got to program one of the first entertainment CD-ROMs in existence for the very first Sound Blaster card. That's such fun to remember. I was phone interviewed for the very first new technology director position at Microsoft. I didn't get the job but I WAS in the running. That's fun to remember, too.

So what if I felt like an alien associating with almost all women and most men? I STILL feel like an alien most of the time. That's life. As I get older, I'm finding myself at the lower end of the geek spectrum. At least there are more of us girl geeks. AND it's becoming almost acceptable.