For as long as I can remember, I have loved learning. I remember enjoying going to school and being so proud the first time my third grade math teacher told me how impressed she was with my multiplication. When you're a little kid, everyone wants the teacher's approval. The social stigmas against intellect haven't been discovered yet. No one stereotypes people by how they look yet. And most notably, girls haven't started pretending to be dumb.

I don't remember a specific moment when I realized people didn't think that being smart was cool, all I know is that it happened. When I went to middle school, I was placed in an honors program. There were only sixty of us in a grade of about one hundred and fifty. We became close-knit and I loved being with other people who shared my love of school.

To add to the nerd stereotype, I was also in an advanced band. All of the band kids wore matching band sweat-shirts and walked around school like we ran it. I was living in a bubble of comparing grades and pretending I didn't study for the test so I would seem naturally smart (or something dumb like that). Then I noticed something. It was okay to be smart in school, but liking things like Doctor Who and reading for fun were largely frowned upon. People wanted to hear all about my math grade, but they laughed when I talked about staying up all night to finish the Hunger Games.

I could be smart, as long as I wasn't "a total nerd". This isn't to say I didn't have friends who would play Doctor Who Monopoly with me, but to be "cool" those parts of my weekends needed to stay hidden.

For me, high school started off in a similar way. It was okay to be smart, as long as I didn't talk about how I couldn't wait for the new Star Trek movie. Thankfully, I found an amazing group of friends who were just as nerdy and geeky as I am. Unfortunately, until very recently, I still cared that other people called me a nerd. I think the most confusing part of being called a nerd is that I never understood how it was an insult. Being smart is good, right? Elementary school me didn't understand it, and high school me didn't either. The main difference was I no longer cared.

I would like to point out that this change in mindset did not happen over night. I didn't wake up one morning and decide I wouldn't let other people define me, or bother me with labels. I had to fight against my own mind set and against everything society tells us. It took years of awkwardness and growth.

One of the most encouraging things anyone has ever told me was, "You shouldn't care if they call you a nerd, they're all going to work for you some day". Keep that in mind next time someone makes you feel like your brilliance is a bad thing.

So for anyone still bothered by the nerd title, please remember that other peoples' opinions of you are irrelevant. If you love reading for fun, keep reading. If you love math, take more math classes. If you want to watch every Star Wars movie in one weekend, do it. If you think your class is interesting, don't be afraid to pay attention and ask questions. And most importantly; if you find yourself changing to please other people, stop.