Sitting here on the bunk in my “new” dorm room makes me feel very, very young. It’s a very unusual thing to live on my own for so many years, only to find myself sharing a room with two other people in a self-contained ecosystem where the organism highest on the food chain usually wears shorts and a hoodie.
Home sweet home?
From the moment I stepped foot on the campus of William & Mary, I knew this was the place for me. That feeling was cemented even further in the few short days that I’ve been here, because everyone (and I do mean everyone) here is a geek like me!
My first encounter with my roommate involved a stack of graphic novels with vectoring interests. She is a dance major, but likes Marvel and is interested in some of the smaller, creator-owned comics.
Next was a statuesque, blond transfer student who was talking about the girly things she was doing to prepare for her wedding. She wore sundresses and high heels and sprinkled her conversations liberally with references to Game of Thrones. We spent a fifteen minute walk to the Campus Center discussing the character development of Edrick Storm, and GRR Martin’s reasons for leaving him out of the HBO show.
Then was the ice-breaker game that my group of new students played to learn each other’s names and interests. Students announced one fact about themselves and then everyone else who shared that quality or experience (such as breaking a bone, or loving cats) would trade places until someone was caught out and had to start the whole thing over. “My name is Tracy, and I cosplay,” I announced and only one other person stepped into the center with me. My crestfallen face lasted less than a second as instantly almost everyone in the circle began to ask what my characters were and which conventions I attend. I received high fives all around. When the hubbub died down, we asked the foreign exchange student who had switched places with me what he had cosplayed. Without skipping a beat, he shrugged nonchalantly and said, “The green power ranger, of course.”
Apparently this is how they cosplay in the Netherlands.
Wherever I go on this campus, my geek status is welcomed with open arms. Other students who look as though they would fit into categories that do not seem to jive with geekhood, such as prep or jock, still share my love of words, memes, video games, comics, or sci fi.
The moral of my short tale is twofold. First, seek out the company of other geeks—the sense of acceptance is unbelievably warm and fuzzy. Second, and please forgive my triteness, never judge a book by its cover. I’m excited to be here and excited to share some of my experiences with all of you, our wonderful readers. In the meantime, I’ve got an early morning registration appointment.
Therefore I Geek 