The Single Thing My Teacher Told Me That Stuck With Me: WHY YOU SHOULD BE PROUD TO BE CALLED A GEEK

Hello again beautiful people. 

So this week I was talking to an old school friend who was lamenting about all the things that we don't get taught in school. This got me thinking back to when I was a secondary school student and the first thing that came to mind was an assembly that my headteacher led on tackling bullying. 

For me it seemed that the entire assembly was based around one thing that she said:

"Be nice to geeks, you will either become one, or end up working for one"

While the "geek" movement has started to become slightly more fashionable in recent years with technology taking over the World and shows like "The Big Bang Theory" being popular, the reality in schools is that the word still has negative connotations and is more often than not used as a way to put people down. 

If someone has a particular passion or interest, particular one that makes them different, they can be called an "insert field geek". When I was at school I often her terms like "art geek", "book geek", "band geek", "math geek", "science geek" and "computer geek" as well as people applying the general word to people they didn't like, didn't understand or didn't want to associate with. 

The saddest thing was that these terms were often applied to students who were particularly good at something and who loved to learn and get better. They had a focus for a particular interest that brought out a natural sparkle in them. But when this word was applied to them, it reinforced the idea that this thing that made them who they are was somehow undesirable or weird. As a result they hid their talents, they may have even quit. It dulled their sparkle.

As I think back to my school days, I remember several student's who would begin to talk enthusiastically about a certain subject, only to stop themselves midway and apologise for it. Looking back, this makes me angry. We know how crucial social support is to young people's development and confidence and by using this term we lesson that. 

The word geek has been used for years to describe someone who is usually considered different, an outsider or unpopular. It can make them feel that the thing they are passionate about is weird and that no one else will like them for it. Yet as we get older we see some of the most successful individuals are those that have kept their passions and enhanced what makes them different. 

We see a lot of young people who think they have no marketable skills or that do not know how to stand out. Many psychologists believe that the best way to start discovering our passions or purpose is to think back to what made us happy as children. This can often help us discover innate talents that we have long suppressed and forgotten. 

I'm a firm believer that we are all geeks about something, whether we have discovered it yet or not.  As you might have guessed I am a geek about all things to do with psychology and self-improvement. But what if I told you that I was also a humongous  Harry Potter geek and that I love to write Fan-Fiction and spend much of my time at local libraries because I like to read more books than I can afford. Some of you may think that's sad or weird or uninteresting but thats OK because these are the things that make me sparkle and add joy to my life.

The fact is that successful people know their geek-dom, they know what makes them tick and include it in their life in some way, either as a career or a hobby. 

For me, the message in this quote is clear. Don't ever feel like you have to dull down your intelligence or hide what makes you who you are in order to please others or conform to shallow ideas of what is mainstream or popular. Learn what ignites your sense of geek and be proud of it, not only will it make you more resilient and grow your confidence to not change yourself based on what other's think, but that thing you love might just be the thing that drives your happiness and makes you feel successful and fulfilled throughout your life. 

Hold on to your sense of geek, develop it and be proud of it, show off what makes you different, or the chances are you will end up working for someone who does. 

I hope you all have a happy, healthy and productive day and I will see you soon.