Let me begin with one disclaimer: I use geek and nerd interchangeably, so bear with me here, I will use nerd a lot.

With the excitement of the new "Star Wars" movie, starting to dwindle as it may, I have found myself thinking about being a nerd/geek/dork/what-have-you. Sadly, I cannot say that I was one of the people who saw all the movies when she was little and had been a fan of the franchise her whole life. Rather, I came into it slowly and only truly watched all six episodes in their entirety within the last year. Seeing them was the last part of entering into a world I never felt like I belonged in, a world of excited and enthusiastic people.

Even playing Lego "Star Wars" and some Battlefront as a kid made me feel like I was missing out and I constantly felt like an outsider, or even a liar, for not having seen the movies. So when "Episode VII" came out, and I found myself the leading force in a week-long marathon before the showing, absolutely giddy with the excitement of the new movie, I realized I finally felt at home. This excitement was not just for the movie, as there was a small part of me that was excited to participate with everyone else, knowing just as much as everyone else, and not feeling behind the crowd.

I never saw myself as much of a nerd growing up. I liked school, and enjoyed math and science just as much as the next guy and was really good at it, and I knew I was smart, but I can’t say that I felt a true attraction to the sciences or to a “fandom.” I hadn’t read all of "Harry Potter," hadn’t seen "Star Wars" and I wasn’t watching "Doctor Who," all of which are things that are now part of my life, and connect me with other people. I can’t remember the first time I was called a nerd, or whether I liked it or not, but I do know that now it’s just about the best compliment I can receive.

What I do remember is wanting to join my school’s Science Bowl team in middle school, but never telling anyone or joining, because I didn’t think I fit in the circle. I remember my dad telling me I should think about majoring in engineering, and pushing the idea aside without much of a second thought. I remember my friend encouraging me to watch a show called "Supernatural" and casting it aside. Without realizing it, I had already put myself in a bubble that was keeping me from all these amazing things because I thought I was already out, and there was no way in.

My adventure into the world of the nerdy started in high school, slowly but surely. It was in high school that I started loving my science and math classes, jaw dropping at the sight of a beautiful derivative and eagerly hoping chemicals would explode in class.

If I am being perfectly honest, it was this self-discovery that led me to RIT. Before exploring this amazing university, I was going to be a pre-dental student studying in Washington D.C. and it was only a few short weeks before college applications were due that I changed all my applications to be in engineering, with my top choice being RIT.

The reason for this shift was the community.

Walking onto this campus made me feel like I belonged. The people who go here are people who love things, who appreciate knowledge, who get excited and aren’t afraid to show their true colors. We have been named the Geekiest College by ThinkGeek, we host a huge innovation event every year to inspire and share our passions, and I like to think we have some of the best costumes every year for Halloween. THIS is the culture that I am talking about. This nerd/geek culture is one of acceptance, of passion and honesty and over 15,000 of us are lucky to be in a wonderful little hub of it.

It doesn’t just exist at RIT either, there will always be hubs like this, of people connected by TV shows and science and games. There are too many people who will take being called a “nerd” as a negative thing, who actively try to hide things they love in fear of this word. For those of you out there who feel this way, or for those of you who want nothing more than to jump in, please take my advice and go for it. Be proud of what you love. It is so easy to stand on the sidelines and wait for someone to invite you to play, but as someone who took way too long to get in on the fun, let me tell you, the perfect time never comes. There are people out there just like you, who love what you love, who want to be excited and do things and participate, and the world is waiting for you with open arms.

So get out there, watch "Episode VII" if you haven’t already, talk about it, jump in.