You might not think that spending a summer pouring coffees and toasting bagels is particularly exciting or noteworthy but….well, truth be told, it isn’t. This was my third consecutive summer spent working at the local Dunkin’ Donuts and this year I worked far more hours than I have in the past, hoping to earn some extra money to spend on groceries while I’m living in the Great Hill Student Apartments. It’s a tiring and often frustrating job, but it’s far from terrible. Our store is located in a very small town in central Massachusetts which means, in addition to earning some pretty good tips (mostly in quarters), we also get to know our customers.
Mixing Coolattas and arranging countless trays of donuts may have taken up a huge chunk of my vacation time, but I still managed to carve out some time for adventures of my own. Be warned, highly geeky activity lies ahead…
I happily and proudly call myself a nerd.
Merchandise-collecting, marathon-watching, internet-ranting, fangirl-squealing, costume-making, and convention-going. The whole nine yards. So, for me, summertime means convention season and having enough free time to meet up with all of my equally nerdy friends! A year ago I (kind of, sort of, accidentally…) started a club for fans of the British sci-fi TV show Doctor Who and we currently have over 400 members. Yes, there are THAT many people who care about an alien in a telephone box. We call ourselves the Boston Whovians and meet up approximately once a month, usually in costumes and almost always with excessive amounts of baked goods, in and around New England to chat and socialize. One of our “official” gatherings this summer took place in Hartford at the annual ConnectiCon convention.
“CTCon” is a multi-genre convention.
This makes it unique because, while most other conventions in the area cater to a specific segment of the nerdy population (For example, Anime Boston is geared towards Japanese animation), CTCon welcomes everyone! Comic book fans mingle with video gamers, and you are likely to see Disney characters snapping photos with Pokemon.
As conventions go, it isn’t a particularly large or prominent one, but it does have a strong sense of community. There really is nothing like spending three days surrounded by people who, though their tastes vary, all share the trait of being unashamedly passionate about the the stories and characters they love. It was that sense of welcoming, friendliness, and belonging that had me packing up costumes, wigs, and props and trekking to a hotel to attend the convention for the second year in a row. It was a whirlwind and hectic weekend in which not everything went according to plan, but the friends I made and wacky good times I had have me already planning for next year.
What are your thoughts about “nerd” conventions? Would you give up a weekend of your summer for something like that?
