I think its time I got something off my chest and confess.  I’m a geek.  There, said it, I bet you are surprised.

Or perhaps not.

At some point over the last few years, being a geek has suddenly become cool.  I suspect I’m now a little too old to be cool, and to be fair, I don’t really care if I’m cool or not.  But perhaps nowadays with geek chic being the in thing, not caring if you are cool is the epitome of cool anyway?

High school seems to be where you really find out what your clique is, and back then, the last thing you wanted to be was a geek.  I had no choice, I was smart and I excelled in Computing.  At the age of 15, I knew more than the Computing teacher – not surprising as we had the same model machine at home since I was 8 years old.  At the end of year prize giving, when I came top of the school in Computing (two years in a row), my Mum said there were whispers and comments of surprise from other parents that it was a girl taking home the prize.  I’d like to think 25 years on that this wouldn’t be an issue, but I suspect very much that it would still be unusual.

Following school, I went onto Polytechnic (technical collage) to study IT.  I was in a class of 14 students – all men except for me, and I was the youngest by years.  To start with, the guys in my class were often checking in to see if I was understanding what was being taught – until they started to see me ace them in tests and complete projects well ahead of them.   And for the first time, around a bunch of (male) computer nerds, I fit in.

Being a geek, being smart, now wasn’t a curse, it was respected and accepted.

So I will now wear my geek label with pride.  I will happily admit I am a fan of Scifi.  I’m equally happy using Windows or Mac (though Windows 8 and I aren’t exactly best of friends).  I am passionate about Disney, I collect Cabbage Patch Kids and other 80s toys.  I listen to Britney Spears and have done since before she became cool again.  I will be the crazy sausage dog lady.  I will wear my bright coloured socks and paint my nails outrageous colours – I don’t care if others don’t.  I will socialise with most of my friends on the internet – even if I never meet them.

I am a geek and I am cool!  I wear my geek badge with pride.