My name is Katie, and I’m a nerdy girl.

I own more books than I have room to hold on my bookshelves, and the ones on the shelves are organized by genre and then alphabetically by author’s last name. I have playlists on my iPod inspired by my favorite movies, TV shows, and fictional characters. I write notes in the margins of every book I read, carefully analyzing (some might say overanalyzing) each sentence. I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 four times within the first week it was in theaters. I have a charming habit of crying over things that happen to fictional characters more than I cry over things that happen to my friends.

Ten years ago – heck, five years ago – I would have never admitted those things to anyone. Being a nerd was something I was afraid of. I used to work hard to convince people that doing well in school didn’t automatically make me a nerd.

I’m not sure when my mindset changed, but I think it was somewhere between buying the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia and dressing up as Hermione Granger for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

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