The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth - Alexandra Robbins [22]
This got me thinking. Many of the successful and appreciated adults I know were not part of the mainstream popular crowd at school: the onetime multi-pierced, combat-boot-wearing artsy girl who inspires hundreds of people with her quirky magnetism; the Goth theater geek who turned into a dynamo in the publishing industry; the green-haired high school “freak” who is now a publicist-to-the-stars. Indeed all of these people are thriving because of at least one of the attributes for which they were excluded as teens. The artsy girl is now a beloved art teacher who has made additional money and a wide circle of friends with her creative freelance ventures. The Goth, whom Midwestern classmates picked on because her intense curiosity diverted her interests from parties and sports to museums, classical music, and books, now prospers in Manhattan, where friends and colleagues can relate. The freak, rejected partly for her willingness to be confrontational, used her place on the margins to become a shrewd people observer. “I’ve been able to use that to my advantage in my life and especially in my career,” she said. “I’m good at dealing with a lot of different personalities, so, for that, I’m thankful that I was a friendless freak. Also, I think it all trained me to be a bit of a bulldog, and I like that about me.”
Meeting current and former student outsiders like these inspired me to develop the concept of quirk theory. Quirk theory is intended to validate students’ inability or refusal to follow the crowd. It serves as a way to explain that, once they leave the school setting, their lives can improve.
Students are excluded for many reasons that depend, of course, on their environment, their peers, and their school. Each of the main characters in this book was snubbed for assorted combinations of attributes. Danielle, the Loner, was cynical and droll with a disdain for superficiality; she was the ultimate outsider, whose seventh-grade rejection made her want to reject her classmates in return. Noah, the Band Geek (also labeled the Asian), whose discipline and dogged sense of responsibility gave students the impression that he was too serious, was at the same time emotionally expressive, occasionally to the point of melodrama. Joy, the New Girl (also labeled the Foreign Girl and the Black Girl), refused to temper her strong cultural pride or her feistiness. She battled to maintain her precocious focus on the positive even through shockingly trying times.
Eli, the Nerd, indulged in eclectic tastes and was devoted to expanding his knowledge base, whether of academic subjects, global issues, or trivia, even when they did not relate to his schoolwork. He didn’t believe in the concept of normality and, therefore, made no attempt to change his stereotypically awkward image. Regan, whose peers identified her as the Weird Girl because of her alternative style and hobbies (she was also labeled the Artsy Girl and the Lesbian), was viewed as another kind of nerd; her youthful exuberance and unabashedness were often mistaken for naïveté. But while inside school peers excluded her, outside of school people adored her.
Something about Whitney, the Popular Bitch, made me think that she was not meant to be in the popular crowd; I designed her challenge accordingly. And Blue, the heartbreaking underachiever who was known at school as the Gamer, was excluded because he was unafraid to explore unpopular viewpoints and because of the intensity with which he pursued his passions. When he cared about something, he injected