what it means to be a nerd

To be clear to myself: I would like to write about nerds today.

Several of my students arrive early to class, explaining "We're nerds" and I'm not sure I agree with that statement.  Arriving on time (or early) doesn't necessarily qualify you as a nerd.

Some people study on weekends, saying "Usually I get good grades" and that makes them nerdy.  I don't know if that fits with my definition of a nerd.

I don't think nerd has anything to do with the way you dress.  Although some t-shirts would lead you to believe that wearing something on your chest makes you a certain thing (smart, sexy, cool, etc.).

CrashCourse

I'm not talking about the candy Nerds.  I'm not talking about geeks.  I am not talking about dweebs.  I'm not talking about dorks.  I am not talking about gamers.

Being nerdy doesn't mean you can't be a good dancer.  Being nerdy doesn't mean you have no friends.

Revenge of the Nerds (1987)

Being nerdy might lead to a good job.  Nerds don't mind wearing personal-protective-equipment (PPE).

Real Genius (1985)

Nerds get to play with expensive toys.  Nerds are who you call when your expensive toys break.  For me, being nerdy involves being computer savvy.

Being nerdy is a lifestyle.  It doesn't happen overnight.  It doesn't mean you wear glasses with tape in the middle, it means you wake up every day and tackle difficult problems.  Day after day.

I used to try to avoid being called a "nerd" but now I don't mind it so much.  It's kind of like a compliment.

The two movies pictured here (Revenge, Genius) shaped me as a child.  They made me look forward to college and graduate school and believe that being nerdy was something to aspire to.  I hope Hollywood considers making more "nerds having fun" movies as we try to encourage more young people to study STEM.

We're planning an outreach activity at CSUN soon.  Our goals include:

• Focusing on underrepresented groups
• Exposing girls to STEM fields
• Setting the standard with role models

How are people going to consider STEM when they don't see any women engineers?  Even I'm guilty in this blog post by putting only "white (male &) nerdy" pictures.  Ok, here are a few better ones...

New Experiences for Research & Diversity in Science (NERDS)

There are already a few initiatives to this end, such as UCBerkeley's program NERDS (pictured above) and "Women in Science and Engineering" (WiSE).  For women to close the earning gap, we need to go ahead and step up to high-tech jobs.

Sarah Allen, CEO of Blazing Cloud

NO MORE using WOMEN as WINDOW DRESSING!!!!!!  We need to step out of "sales" jobs and into technical positions.  I remember browsing photos at the 50th Experimental NMR Conference and there was always a woman pictured with the spectrometer with a male scientist standing above them, obviously in charge.  We're not here to help you sell instruments: women can design and use technology, too.

Black Girls Code

These photos are much better, with the woman in charge and minorities getting high-tech, with women mentors passing on their knowledge to young girls.  Most women that succeed in STEM fields got interested as young girls.

Nerds don't fit into a box: we come in all shapes, sizes and colors.  Let's look towards Grace Hopper, Ester Gerston and Gloria Ruth Gordon as nerds we can aspire to.  Websites like Grandma Got Stem and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) can give us a wealth of faces to idenfity with (pronounced No-be-shay).

NOBCChE 40th Annual Conference

Thank goodness anyone is free to be a nerd these days!