If You Care About It, Write About It: My Experience at Nerd Con Nerdfighteria 2017

This past Christmas marked the second that my boyfriend and I had been together. While we have spent the holiday itself with family, we usually carve out time to have a little Christmas of our own. He told me that he had wanted to buy something for me but, for reasons he couldn't get into, he needed my email because there was a survey that each person had to do before this thing could be bought. I thought nothing of it because I wanted to be surprised. Then, when the moment finally came, he asked, as a Christmas present, if I would want to go to Nerd Con: Nerdfighteria. 

Needless to say, I was surprised. At the time, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to Nerd Con. In recent years, there was a part of me that thought I was getting "too old" and "too cool" to be a Nerdfighter. I had started to focus on other things and while I still watched the vlogbrothers it was an occasional video. I instead turned to the Dear Hank and John podcast. But after a couple of bad episodes (nothing to do with the Green brothers, I just thought some of the questions submitted were asinine), I turned away from that too. I had never really been involved in Nerdfighteria community either. I had met several Nerdfighters over the years, but that was it. I had felt so distant from a community that, for whatever reason, always felt like just Hank, John and myself. 

But after talking out my hesitations with him, I decided to go. 

Upon entering the Hynes Convention Center, I immediately felt like I was at home. People of all different shapes, sizes, ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, etc. were just all amped up for the convention. At the opening ceremony, I was taken back to the formative years of 2009/2010, the years I really started to dive into Nerdfighteria. In 2009, I had started my senior year of high school, graduated the following year, and packed my bags for college. I began to rely on the vlogbrothers  a little more heavily as a source of comfort, wisdom, and entertainment. It was in that ceremony, and as the convention played out, that I began to feel connected again. I remembered why I had watched John and Hank in the first place. I felt drawn to making memories with other Nerdfighters. It was the first time in a while where I felt like I could just unabashedly be myself. 

One thing I'll never forget is when I met fellow Nerdfighters after a Harry Potter panel was at capacity. I realized I didn't need a panel to talk about Harry Potter. I would talk about it with whomever would listen! And sure enough, we sat in the hallway and talked about the series and what drew us into Nerdfighteria. It was really special to me. The other panels I attended were about managing finances, mental health, and writing about things you care about. I felt alive and was truly living for the moment. 

And then it came time for Sunday, the last day of the convention. The survey that I had to complete earlier upon getting my ticket was a way for con members to have the chance of meeting someone on the guest list. By my lucky stars, I finally got to meet Hannah Hart! Yes, THE HANNAH FREAKIN' HART. Even though I interacted with her for all of a minute, I could tell she is such a genuine person. She has a strong handshake, looks you in the eye, and is such a bundle of positive energy. But she also is the type of person who uses her platform to bring awareness to issues like gun laws after the Pulse Orlando shooting and depression. In addition to that, I also went to a lovely book swap where I got to find not only a few new reads, but also cleared out a lot of my collection.

Five months have passed since Nerd Con: Nerdfighteria . While in some ways it feels like a life time ago, in some ways it hasn't. I still have my wristband as a decoration on my cube at work. I have Dear Hank and John back in my rotation of podcasts, am still Facebook friends with some of the people I met at the convention at that impromptu panel we created. I even still check the Nerd Con Facebook group, taking comfort in the fact that if I need some community that they'd be there.

And to top it all of, John has a  new book coming out.

<3 DFTBA