I am a nerd. I've been one all my life. The good news is that finally, it's OK to be a nerd. Cool, even.
It wasn't always cool. Before technology and information took over our economy, nerds were seen as, well, nerds. Uncool by definition.
I was never cool. I wasn't fashionable; I wore Keds sneakers and whatever was on sale in the "husky" department at JC Penney's. I wasn't the guy you'd call to come over and work on your hotrod Camaro. You'd call your cool friend for that. You called me when you needed help writing a book report. Then I was your best friend.
Girls didn't like nerds much back then. I wasn't a big hit with the ladies. When I coerced a lovely woman to marry me 22 years ago, folks were shocked; they still are.
But here's my
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O'Brien discovered a pattern among the most productive programmers: The best of them - the nerdiest of the nerds - all had created odd tricks and shortcuts to get their work done faster or better. O'Brien shared his research in a report called "Life Hacks: Tech Secrets of Overprolific Alpha Geeks." The term "life hack" spread through the nerd community like a computer virus. Today there are many books, podcasts and websites on the topic. One of the goals of life hacking is to make life simpler. Life Hackers say it helps people to get more done, quickly and efficiently, with simple solutions. Merlin Mann created a blog called 43 Folders, which is one of the most popular life-hacking sites. Mann suggests having everyone stand during meetings so no one will waste time. Another suggestion from Mann is to check emails on a regular schedule rather than reacting immediately to every email that arrives. (A great many life-hacking ideas relate to managing email more …show more content…
It's an alternative to using personal digital assistants, or PDAs, such as Blackberries and Palm Pilots. The Hipster PDA is simply a few index cards held together with a paper clip. It's a "system" I've been using for years, since tiring of my Palm Pilot and its annoying stylus, batteries and synchronization hassles. People laugh at my low-tech notecards, but now the top geeks in the country have endorsed my system! My version of the Hipster PDA costs about a penny per notecard, plus 45 cents for a pen. My version is different in one important respect. Many nerds carry multiple index cards clipped together; I carry just one. If my new activities won't fit on one card, that tells me that my life is full and I need to reprioritize. You'll find much more at
According to its first definition of the word, a nerd is a "foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious." That sounds about right. But Oxford's first definition of geek is synonymous: "An unfashionable or socially inept person." Oxford's second definitions of both words are also synonymous, nerd as "an intelligent, single-minded expert in a particular technical discipline or profession" and geek as "a person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest. (Goldsborough, 2010)
The poem, We Real Cool, by Gwendolyn Brooks speaks through the voice of a young clique who believes it is “real cool.” Using slang and simple language to depict the teenage voice in first person, Brooks’s narrators explain that they left school to stay out together late at night, hanging around pool halls, drinking, causing trouble, and meeting girls. Their lifestyle, though, will ultimately lead them to die at a young age. But, despite an early death, the narrator expresses that they are “real cool” because of this risky routine. Through her poem, Brooks’s shows the ironic consequence of acting “cool”: it leads to death.
Penrod says that intellectuals are given negative names that can result in them being degraded by peers. These reality is that names such as “geek” or “nerd” often cause intellectuals to feel devalued. An online venter describes what he hears “A+ this and…got a 1600 on my SAT and got all AP classes next year woohoo. That’s all these people care about and don’t they have lives - damn nerds” (Penrod). Even though the venter shows signs of feeling angry, his tone towards the end of the
"We Real Cool" is a short, yet powerful poem by Gwendolyn Brooks that sends a life learning message to its reader. The message Brooks is trying to send is that dropping out of school and roaming the streets is in fact not "cool" but in actuality a dead end street.
In Leonid Fridman’s passage entitled “America Needs Its Nerds”, Fridman discusses why ‘nerds’ are needed in society. In his passage he develops his argument through comparison. He compares nerds to freaks and athletes to develop his argument that there is something wrong with america’s values.
Close your eyes and try to visualize a black nerd. The person you’ve probably come up with most likely resembles Steve Urkel or Bill Cosby. But a better, more relevant answer would be someone like Kanye West or Rosario Dawson. Before, being a black nerd was something to be ashamed of because it was associated with being an outsider of the black community and acting white. However in recent years, the subculture has undergone a rebranding and being a black nerd has flowed into the mainstream through artists like Childish Gambino, Richard Ayoade, and Kanye West. This new generation of black nerds call themselves blerds. There is some controversy surrounding the word blerd because of its embrace of blackness and some people believe it is exclusionary.
Have you ever felt left out? Have you ever wished you seemed cooler or you were as cool as “those
But what I realized was, this entire time, I was being myself. I never conformed to what everyone liked, I always remained myself because that is the best way to live life. I’ve always wore the exquisite long tees with jean cut-offs I wanted to wear. I’ve always hung around the chill people who aren’t afraid to be different and don’t care what others think of them. I’ve just recently considered my uniqueness as a blessing instead of a curse. It’s a lot better being around a few like-minded people that actually like you than being acquaintances with hundreds of people that you are putting a front on for. At that moment I embraced that fact that I traveled down the lonely road less traveled. The road of being yourself and doing the things that you like and doing the things that make you happy. Life is a lot better when you aren’t trying to be something that you are
Despite that being cool includes gathering attention through showcasing an impressive individual feature one has, it still falls heavily in the idea of conformity. People, mostly in school settings, have this set image of what’s cool and what’s not, and despite that it may vary, they all involve the same idea. The common idea shows how “cool behavior can range from dressing in trendy styles to being good at a certain sport to being sarcastic to parents; uncool behavior often includes displaying excessive affection and obedience toward parents, reaching out to an unpopular classmate, and expressing interest in school work” (Bernstein). This type of behavior is often showcased in the media, or even inspired by it. In schools, there tends to be a separation of social status, based on their behavior. We have those students who rebel against the rules, disrespects others for comedic effect or proof of dominance, and simply follows all the popular trends to gain this title of being cool. On the contrary, we have these students who are more obedient, presents themselves as good role models, and are more in the side in which they weigh their responsibilities more than what’s in and what’s not. They’re two different kinds, but in the end it tends to just merge into one whole group, as the students who are more ‘uncool’ in a sense, desire to be ‘cool’ and act accordingly. This is always the case in my history of transitioning from to a higher level of education, in which I have relations with these students who used to be very invested in their studies, start to become more rebellious and uncaring for their education as they grow. From what they see in excessively in the media, the people who tend to who have bad behaviors are more popular, and as they grow to become teenagers, popularity seems to grow more of its significance. Since its significance grows, these
In public schools, students are faced with the different groups among their peers. The popular group is most favored, which probably means that you go to school in the latest fashion, you are the team captain or captain of the cheerleading squad. If you are a “geek”, you are probably made fun of because you are smart and get good grades instead of spending the morning caring about how you look. If you a...
I like to play FIFA with my friends. I like to listen to Kanye West; I can recite one lyric from every one of his songs from every album. I have a small circle of friends, and I keep all of them close and dear to my heart. My family is my backbone, and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be the man that I am today or where I am at in life. I’m a brother, older and younger. I like Rap, Indie, and Reggae music. I love the life I live. I love the people I have connected with.
I am that one friend that will go to the end of the earth for a friend. I am a person that strongly believes in my goals and values and a person that wouldn't change for anyone. I am a caring but yet shy person. With my life experiences and my morals and values in place, and my confidence in myself being so high but not being to cocky, I am able to be the person I am today.
With my best friend by my side, I am a truly happy teenager with nothing but greatness coming my way. I am an intelligent and quite cute, with my black curls and big dark brown eyes. This deceived a lot of people, I was a well-behaved child. I would share just enough about myself that no other questions were asked. I was able to maintain my school life and my home life into two worlds without mixing them up.
I am sentimental, out-going, indecisive, understanding, curious, naive, lazy, and young. I want to be ... , well a lot of things, and growing is discovering what they are. I feel people cannot see the potential within, although there is no one to blame but myself. I look to others for approval instead of to myself. I aim to please; it leads to approval. I don’t like to discuss my faults; I pity myself.
I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.