Geek Gospel: Embracing Geekdom in College

One of the things that excited me most about leaving high school for college was the idea of being someone different. I’m a senior now, but I remember my freshmen year and how I was convinced that I could be anyone I wanted. More confident, more popular; high school didn’t matter here because high school was over six thousand miles away. I could be anyone.

I felt something similar when I transferred to UT. It wasn’t that I didn’t like who I was. I was fine with myself. It’s more that potential to be something more, to be different. To do things differently.

That feeling is a fairly standard trope in television too. The show Undeclared embodied the concept, centering on a high school geek who leaves for college, determined to be popular and leave all his lameness behind.

I can’t be the first moderately geeky kid to decide to quit all that chained me to geekdom.

And sure, college is an excellent opportunity to quit World of Warcraft and actually go out on a Friday night instead of leveling up your night elf named “Playbunny.”

But it doesn’t have to be. We’re allowed to be geeks. We’re allowed to keep doing things that we like.

I admit it, I’m a geek. I like video games and I’m obsessed with superheroes. But that’s about it. I don’t read comics, I don’t play Magic: The Gathering, I don’t even really like Star Wars (gasp, I know).

But I still identify myself as geeky. I have to, given how much time I spend thinking about superheroes (there is no such thing as a good Robin).
So I’m here to tell you that it’s OK to be a geek in college. It’s OK to embrace the geek gospel.

Now, more than ever, geeks are in. Actresses like Mila Kunis and Felica Day have openly talked about playing World of Warcraft and being huge geeks. Superhero movies now carry a hefty amount of sex appeal too. It’s no longer taboo to have arguments about Aquaman’s validity as a superhero (not saying it will get you laid either, though).

There is nothing wrong with playing video games in moderation. If you spend more time leveling your orc’s blacksmithing than you do hanging out with your friends, then, yes, there’s a problem. But with games like Skyrim there to immerse yourself in, it’s understandable to soak two or three hours at a time into a video game.

If reading comics makes you happy, go for it. In college people don’t really care about what kind of hobbies you have. For the first time in your life playing with a Frisbee is a sport; that’s pretty much license to geek out.

I spent my whole freshman year convinced that if I wasn’t going out every Friday night I was doing something wrong. But sometimes I needed to stay in. Getting drunk every weekend isn’t necessarily better than beating Arkham Asylum.

Guys, are you going to pick up chicks just because you beat Uncharted 3 on hard mode? No. Ladies, are you going to pick up dudes because you can hold your own in Super Smash Brothers? Yes (unless you play as Pikachu. Then you will attract nobody).

It’s just a lot more socially acceptable to be a geek nowadays. Granted, if you’re sitting in class rambling about how awesome Star Wars: The Old Republic is you might not exactly scream “cool.” But if you’re not ashamed of being a Jedi then you might find a new buddy to do co-op with.

This is college. If you’re not accepted here then your hobbies must be either too illegal or some weird animal fetish. We have an Asian Media Club here at UT (I think that means they listen to J-pop? I have no idea). We’ve got a cooking club and even an ice hockey club. In Florida. If that isn’t proof there’s room for everyone, then I don’t know what is.

So embrace your inner geek. Go pregame while playing Brawl. Don’t deny that Batman is the world’s greatest detective. Make Ctrl-Alt-Del references and take the Supernatural DVDs out of hiding.

There are worse things than being a geek in college. One of my best friends is so attractive she gets hit on more than Summer Glau at Comic-Con. The girl is also in love with all things that are Harry Potter. So joining the UT Quidditch Team might just be your best way to score a gorgeous girlfriend. After all, if we can have a club focused only on the First Amendment, then you can be a geek.

Embrace the geek gospel. Live long and prosper. Or something.
Richard Solomon can be reached at r.solomon14@gmail.com.