barbarafett

March 16, 1996, was an important date in my life. On that day, I was surfing the Net and I came across a humorous list with the title "You Know You're A Star Wars Geek When..." I read the list, and while I had not actually done any of the things on it, I could easily imagine myself doing some of them, like the ones about constructing a lightsaber and using quotes from Star Wars in everyday life. Come to think of it, I was probably already using quotes from Star Wars in everyday life by the time I found this list. You can read the list here, but be warned: a lot of the jokes are off-color.

Reading this list was a minor revelation to me: I knew then that I was a Star Wars Geek. There were two reasons why this moment of discovery was so important to me. First of all, before that, I had had no idea that anyone had the same feelings toward SW as I did. I thought it was weird to have this constant desire to experience the world of Star Wars through the movies and the novels. I didn't know that other people were the same way. Secondly, the group of Star Wars Geeks was the first social group I had ever felt like I belonged to, apart from classes at school and my church. It didn't matter that I didn't personally know anyone else in that group at the time. I was part of a crowd.

I have never stopped being a geek since then, although I have become a lot of other things. As a geek, I have accomplished a lot of things and expanded my interest into many other areas besides Star Wars. I have written fanfiction in a number of fandoms, posted on numerous message boards, participated in round robins, watched a lot of sci-fi and anime, and cosplayed at anime conventions. I also have my own website where all the geeky things I do come together, and I have a few geeky friends now. I think what I like most about being a geek is the way it fuels my creativity - most of the things I just listed are creative pursuits that I would never have gotten into if I weren't a geek. I'm glad I've been doing this for ten years, and I can't wait to see what's in store for the next ten.