Why, hello there.

Being a nerd is hard. Being a girl and a nerd is even harder. You are often looked at as either being too nerdy, or that you are masquerading as a nerd to get more attention. This can often be disheartening, especially for young girls. You may get to the point where you try to hide who you really are so you no longer are looked down upon. To any girl out there who classifies herself as a nerd, my advice to you is this: do not be afraid of being a nerd and, especially, do not let people try and change you. Take it from someone who has gone through this before.

I grew up a complete nerd, but it was unacceptable to show it. I have always been fascinated with the more scientific side of life. I have been mesmerized with dinosaurs ever since I can even remember. I can distinctly remember going to some sort of fair as a child and having the author of one of my dinosaur books sign it. At the time, I thought nothing of his words of encouragement to keep up my love of dinosaurs. Being a young child, maybe only six or seven, I never thought I would be given a hard time for like dinosaurs, but it's often seen as too boy-ish to like them.

I just find it absolutely amazing how some animals were able to survive the mass extinction of dinosaurs. Even more amazing, I am shocked at how a comet has the ability to practically wipe out all species!

Dinosaurs were my life growing up. I would frequently watch "The Land Before Time." To this day I still tear up and get chills when Little Foot is lead to the Great Valley by the spirit of his mother. And, let me tell you, the first time I saw "Jurassic Park," I was in awe. Every time I watch "Jurassic Park" and now "Jurassic World," it's like I am revisited by my childhood innocence. Each viewing is like I'm seeing these movies for the first time. The music by John Williams only adds to the amazement.

Continuing with the science theme, I grew up watching "Star Wars." While still in elementary school, most of the boys in my class would be talking about "Star Wars." Any time I would try to chime in, I would never be taken seriously. It wasn't until after "The Force Awakens" came out my thoughts and critiques were listened to and taken seriously.

What's even worse is when others look at me funny while I play "Star Wars" music while driving to/from school/work. Once, while stuck in traffic, another driver gave me a triple-take and then gave me a dirty look when I finally looked at him, because I was playing "The Throne Room" from "Episode IV." I personally find it soothing to listen to the soundtrack to "Star Wars," especially the music associated with the Empire.

To add to my "Star Wars" love, I hunted down the limited edition of
"Star Wars" themed makeup and promptly spent almost $50 on lipstick. It was so worth it -- you never know when you'll need to look like Queen Amidala.

While I was and very much still am a science nerd, my real nerdism comes from video games. For whatever reason, there is so much of a stigma when it comes to women playing video games, and it comes from both genders. If you tell another women you play video games, oftentimes, you're looked down on. If you tell men you're a video game nerd, you often get a sigh followed by an 'mhmm.'

I started playing video games when I was about four years old. To this day, I still have my lime green GameBoy Color and all my cartridges. Sometimes, when I feel like going a bit old school, I'll whip out my GameBoy and play a few games. From GameBoy I started playing on the family's Nintendo 64. I still try to play on this system any chance I get. The progression of my gaming systems continues like so: Xbox, Nintendo DS, PC games like Sims, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, PS3, and most recently, an Xbox One. If you couldn't tell, I love staying up-to-date on the systems and having a diverse gaming option.

I am a super nerd when it comes to video games. Any chance I get to play them, I take, even if it sometimes means staying up later than I know I should. I have a passion for video games. Like the aspects of the sci-fi/fantasy interests of mine, I was basically told either not to talk about playing video games or to get over playing them.

Would you tell a girl with a passion for fashion or something like that to get over it? Probably not. So why would you tell a girl who has a passion for playing video games to do so?

There came a point where I just didn't care whether or not people judged me or looked down on me for playing video games or being a nerd. Throwing away your cares and basically saying screw it is one of the best, most freeing feelings in the world.

I have found my best, most close friends after openly admitting to being a nerd. These are nerds like me. They don't judge me for saying something nerdy or talking about the latest scientific breakthroughs, because chances are, we're already talking about it. The best part about having especially video game nerds as your friends is you never have to debate over what to do when you get together. You all will take turns playing video games or mixing it up and watching gameplays on YouTube.

So to any girl out there, no matter what age—if you're a nerd, embrace it. I regret almost every day not embracing my nerdism at a younger age.