In every book, movie and TV show growing up the nerds were the losers. They were the ones getting picked on in school and the ones who would spend their weekends locked away in their bedrooms alone. But over the last couple of years that has been changing and it is amazing. The nerds and geeks are becoming the cool kids yet there does not really seem to be an explanation why.

Growing up, I always tried to hide my nerdy side. I would not talk about my favorite books and shows in public instead I would just search for hours on the internet for people like me. Thanks to sites like Youtube and The Leaky Cauldron I was able to find others. On the outside I was a girl who liked all the stereotypical girly things like shopping, gossiping and talking about boys but on the inside I was the biggest nerd. The nerd side of me started to leak out in day-to-day life and I stopped worrying about it. I was never the cool kid but eventually I started to find people, outside of the internet, who liked the same things I did.

But this has all changed recently, being a fan of something has become normal and actually cool. It seems as if everyone is part of some kind of fandom by it Harry Potter or even One Direction. Finding out someone who know is attending San Diego Comic Con is something to be extremely jealous of and not something to be shunned. Nerds have started to come out of the shadows, out of their bedroom and into the real world. In 2016, being yourself is cool.

Just look at the release of Pokémon Go and its success. Back in elementary and middle school we all knew of Pokémon. I would even go as far to say that most of us watching the TV show or played one of the many games that came out. But we might not have been as open about it, playing the trading card game was not cool so we did not play it at school. But now everyone is playing Pokémon Go and no one is hiding it. It is now cool to talk about what Pokémon you caught out in public. People are not afraid of what other people will think, they are just having fun and playing something they love.

Sure, I may be fantasizing a little bit when I say nerds are now the cool kids, but I think it is getting there. It has gotten better throughout the years. Being a nerd is not something to be ashamed of and I think people are finally starting to realize that. Award-winning author John Green described it the best in a video when he said, "...nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff... Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can't-control-youself love it... when people called people nerds, mostly what they're saying is 'you like stuff.' Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, 'you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness'." The word "nerd" is not an insult at all, it is a badge of honor that we must wear proudly.