Walking on campus is like walking into a less hallucinogenic version of Alice in Wonderland. Shuffling from class to class, making small talk on your phone and sipping coffee like the diligent, dedicated, normal student that UA students are. Trying to avoid the other crazy students walking around, all while a great, invisible presence looms over everybody, whispering “we’re all nerds here.”

Maybe it is not quite that dramatic, but one need not trek into the Commuter Lounge in order to fulfill their nerdy habits. There are people everywhere, sometimes people who you would not expect, who share the same weird interests as you.

Ever read all the Star Trek novels…twice? Love playing Warhammer and painting the wooden figures? Ever pretended to flick a pen like Harry Potter and half-hoping it would fly? All these things are included in, but are not limited to, what defines nerd culture as modern ladies and gentlemen view it today.

Nerds are probably the coolest people to ever exist. Whatever weird or strange interest comes, there is a following, or somebody who shares the exact same interest. If they don’t, but have their own weird habit, they will probably be open minded to the interest and would love to hear all about it.

With that being said, nerds can fall into several different categories. There could be science nerds, history nerds, gaming nerds, literary nerds, math nerds, anime nerds, style nerds, even fitness nerds –people who go above and beyond studying the physique.

Nerdism is merely obsession, or heavy interest in a certain thing. Being a nerd has nothing to do with what someone is interested in, but the way they feel about it. Since probably the beginning of time, the cool thing to do was to be completely apathetic about everything. This is seen a lot in the classic high school movie, where the cool kids are laid back and don’t seem to care much about anything. These images are projected to those who are younger, and we carry these same ideals into our adolescence and young adulthood. Being a nerd, i.e. actually caring about something, is looked down upon as uncool.

Everybody has a little bit of awkwardness inside of them, and as long as we embrace it, the world would be a little bit happier.