Introducing My Inner Nerd

I'm a nerd. I love that fact. I embrace that fact. My family and friends tease me because of it, but I wear my nerdiness as a badge of honor. I'm a 37 year old woman with a teenage daughter that loves mathematics and learning. I'm a college student majoring in mathematics. There aren't very many people in my program at my university. As a matter of fact, all 30 or so of us overlap in so many classes that we eventually have each other on speed dial for homework help. LOL Compared to other majors, we are a tiny group. One thing that we have in common, besides being math  majors, is that we all have a love of learning and we all acknowledge and embrace that we are nerds.

So what is a nerd? Merriam Webster (www.m-w.com) defines a nerd as "an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits." I admit, I am not the most stylish person, but I do have a tendency to choose comfort clothes over fashion trends. I am proud to say that I am not all that socially inept. I have friends. Granted, most of my friends could also be classified as nerds, but they are friends that I can socialize with. As for being slavishly dedicated to academic pursuits, well, I will admit that I am easily distracted from my studies. However, I do enjoy learning. I get excited when I figure out how to perform multiplication of fractions using the Ancient Egyptian method of multiplication. I like showing that I am smart. 


Being a teenager, my daughter is often teased for being "weird" because she is good at math. I am proud of my daughter for doing well in school and enjoying those "nerdy" subjects like math and science. She has learned that being smart is a good thing and that while being a nerd may cause her to be labelled as weird, she has real friends that like her for being herself. Her friends know she likes math and science and they know that she embraces her weirdness. They stand by her and stand up for her when others tease her for being a nerd. She has real friends. :) 

Since this is my first blog post, let me give you a sense of what I hope to do here. I hope to use this forum to share secrets of mathematics and recommendations for mathematics help. If there is some math topic that you want to learn more about, please let me know. If I don't know the answer or how to work the question, I will find out. I won't be able to answer questions in an instant so do NOT ask me for help with homework that is due in the next couple of days. I have written a few handouts for the University of Houston - Victoria Academic Center. You can find those mathematics handouts at: www.uhv.edu/ac/mathsci. I have also written a few articles for eHow.com. I will post links to some of my articles as they have relevance to what I am blogging about.  Since I am also a Disney nerd, I will often post Disney related blogs. Want to know something about Disney? Just ask and i will find out if I don't already know the answer.


Are you a nerd? Do you embrace your nerdiness and weirdness? I would love to hear from fellow nerds. Until next time my fellow nerds.