Express Yourself

"To be perfect, you have to feel perfect about yourself—avoid trying to be something you're not."

Rick Riordan said this in his best-selling book Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero. I forget exactly when in the book this quote was used (as it’s been a while since I first read the book), but it’s one that I’ll never forget.

I feel like peer pressure isn’t allowing people of my generation to be the kind of person that he or she wants to be. Like I said in my , my fear of being picked on made me refrain from telling people that I like things like video games and puzzles and music by artists that people probably never had heard of. However, that changed in high school, where I found the environment to be more welcoming. I found that there were a lot of people who shared the same interests as me, which solaced me in a way.

Every time I think of my life back in elementary school, I think of a person completely different from myself. Sure, I was still a nerd back then, and my peers knew it (which is why I was always picked on back then). The only difference between then and now is that now I’m actually embracing my nerdiness, so-to-say—and I’m much happier now than I was then.

On the topic of being a nerd, I don’t understand why pop culture gives “nerd” a negative connotation. Sure, the dictionary’s definition of the word is “someone who lacks social skills.” However, if that’s the case, then how can nerds be friends with other nerds? A person needs social skills to make friends, am I right?

However, there’s another dictionary definition for nerd: “a single-minded expert in a particular technical field.” Why just apply this word to just technical fields? And why are nerds single-minded? Nerds are more than meets the eye. They’re not just smart, or enjoy “nerdy” activities; they’re experts at being themselves.

Now to get to my real point: people should not be pressured into conforming to what society considers is “normal.” Take a moment to ponder this: Is anyone really normal in this world? Nobody should be labeled as “weird” or “a loser” just because of his or her likes or dislikes since, if you think about it, those are hypocritical statements.

Reader, if you’re one of those people who likes something that your peers would ridicule you for liking, then why should you care what other people think? Life is like a flock of geese: either you could hang out with the rest of the flock, or you could be the one goose that decides to break away from the flock and do something more interesting than squawking at your fellow…what would they be called? Flockmates? (I obviously spend too much time at Mercy if I’m using geese metaphors, but that’s not the point.)

Now, fellow reader, if you’re someone who belittles another because he or she likes something nerdy, supports a controversial cause, etc. then back off. Think about this the next time you pick on someone: Is there something that I like that I’m afraid to tell other people about?

Catherine Litvaitis is a Wantagh resident and junior at Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset.