"Courage is being yourself in a world that tells you to be someone else." -Unknown

I've finally started to come around to the fact that I am different and it's okay to be different.

In elementary school, I was always known as a nerd. I was never the "popular" girl. That girl who didn't fit in with all of the other kids? That was me. Or, oh yeah, that girl who liked things that were considered "childish" by other kids, even though we were all kids? Stupid, I know, right? I couldn't help what I liked though. There was just something about the world of comic books and Sci-Fi that I loved so much. That feeling of seeing outside worlds and super heroes was the best thing ever.

Growing up and going to predominately black schools definitely had an impact on me. I learned that to be different was to be friendless and to be picked on, so I migrated away from that and fell in line with the rest of the crowd. During my time in middle school and high school, I wasn't myself. A lot of times there were things that I pretended to like that I didn't care for, and all for the sake of not wanting to be friendless or picked on. When I graduated high school, I slowly started to find myself. I lost a lot of friends in the process, but then I realized that it's what had to happen in order for me to grow.

Fast forward a few years after high school, I spent more time by myself than with friends and I did a lot of self reflection, and at that time, I took a lot of comfort in reading YA fiction and binge watching TV shows. I spent a lot of time on Tumblr and Pinterest and dedicating boards to all of my book and TV obsessions. While reading and watching all of these things, I realized that they all lacked something: it lacked representation. It didn't reflect me. I felt alone within the things that I liked because not too many people of color liked shows like "Supernatural" or John Green books --especially black girls! I asked myself is it weird that I think that this stuff is awesome? Do black people not like Sci-Fi related things or reading? I really started to question myself on what I liked and who I was as a person.

Then, one day, I was on Twitter and I discovered this account called BlackGirlNerds -- it's devoted to promoting nerdiness among black women and people of color. I also discovered the term "blerd." A blerd is a term used to describe a nerd that is of African-American decent. I thought this was the best thing ever, because I found out that there are other people out there like me! You're telling me that there are other black girls out there who like "Star Wars" and Anime?! I could not believe what I was seeing! There were others out there and I wasn't the only one! I wasn't alone!

I've discovered this new hidden world of people and girls like me who were out in the open with their nerdiness. BGN has a website that is dedicated to women and people of color who like things that are considered outside of the ordinary. I've never associated myself with being ordinary because I was always more then ordinary, especially within the things that I like.

That feeling was so awesome. It was like stepping out on the first warm day after experiencing so much cold. Seeing girls like me actually embracing who they are and not being afraid of other's opinions, that awakened something inside of me. From that point on, I decided that I would be proud and embrace who I am. To be a black girl nerd or a blerd does not mean that one is dorky. It's about representing being black while enjoying things that we are considered not to like. Though the blerd culture is small, it is still growing.

At 24 years old, I am still growing, but I've become comfortable with my personality and who I am. With that being said, to all of the blerd girls and blerds out there, don't be afraid to express yourself. It's okay to be you. You don't have to make yourself smaller. It's okay to not be with the "in crowd." It's okay to be obsessed with "Star Wars," "Supernatural" and "The Walking Dead" and to have a Tumblr page dedicated to reposting all of those things (not saying that I have one of those or anything--okay, maybe I do, so what?) Embrace it! Live in the moment, and most importantly live for YOU!