I stumbled across the story on CNN called “The Force is With You, Katie” today and when I read it I was immediately taken back to my childhood.

I can’t say that I was a Star Wars fan like Katie, but I know the bullying and the name calling because you’re a bit different from the norm. I was a geeky girl growing up. I understand Katie’s eye patch because I had to wear one myself for my own lazy eye. I preferred books to Barbies and how things worked to how things looked. I wanted nothing more than a science lab set for my birthday and ended up stupid make-up or a doll. I lived in the garage with my dad and loved and still love to tinker on engines with him. I was the 1st girl in my high school to graduate with all 3 semesters of auto mechanics under my belt. I was discouraged from my guidance counselor to take courses as he said “You’re in the top 10% of your class, and well, classes like auto mechanics are for students who will be doing stuff like this for the rest of their lives.” I politely ignored him and signed up for the class anyway. It was the only time I ever fit in and I can say fit in because I was the only girl in the class with 26 boys and I thought it was going to be the worst, but it wasn’t. It was the time of day I looked forward. Hanging with 26 other people who liked doing stuff that you liked. Rebuilding engines and pulling things apart to see how they worked and then putting them back together.

Today, I realized the misfit friends I have were also geeks in their childhoods. We fell together through being a music geek, book geek, and so on. We realized that there are others out there like us and try to prevent the kids now from picking on the Katie’s of the world.

So, I wanted to write this blog post just for the girls out there (and when I say girls I mean girls of all ages). Be proud of your inner geek and be even prouder of your outer geek. If there is a younger geek in your life, support her and let her know she’s not alone.

Boys…you can do the same.

Katie – my message to you – grab that Star Wars water bottle & book bag and remember you are a beautiful young girl. I’m proud of you.

Think Geek!