In 1968, Charlie, the school bully, told me that I was a "nerd!"  By 1974, I realized that I really was a nerd!  I looked different, I acted differently, I did not "fit in" with the others in my peer group, I was extremely shy, I was the first born son of my father an electrical engineer turned physicist and my mom, a bacteriologist turned scientific research librarian ... and if I wasn't brilliant myself, I at least had more creativity and common sense than most folks I knew. Unfortunately, it was not until 1979 that I realized that I wanted to be a nerd - I didn't see value in "fitting in" I really didn't enjoy company with those who were popular, and I always applauded the success of the underdog.  At that time, I started an international campaign to make "NERD" into a compliment. 

            Since that year, I have contributed to several books, I have spoken to over 108,000 schools, over 22,000 conferences & conventions, and to over 5,000,000 people (that is five million!) around the globe, convincing them of the amazing power of being a NERD!

Michael Scott Karpovich, 

THE NERD!

This is Michael in fifth grade and this is the first book that he wrote his entire "nerd story"... it is very delightful!

nerd also nurd (nûrd) n. Slang. 1. A person regarded as stupid, inept or unattractive.    2. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.   3. A person who has found their greatest strength from their greatest adversities and is often destined for greatness.

 

1950 "Original Nerd" according to Dr. Seuss

I was sent this the other day via e-mail. I am afraid I don't know the source but I appreciate the perspectives. The answer to the eternal question...

"Is it better to be a jock or a nerd?"

     Michael Jordan makes over $300,000 a game. That equals $10,000 a minute, at an average of 30 minutes per game. With $40 million in endorsements, he makes $178,100 a day, working or not.  If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head.  If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18, 550 while he's there.  If he decides to have a 5-minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it.  He makes $7,415/hr more than the minimum wage.  He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends.  If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000), it would take him a whole 12 hours.   If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at a rate of $2.00 every second.  He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round.  Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), he will hit the federal cap of $9,500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st.  If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you 'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year.  He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics.  He'll make about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon.  While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5,600. This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined.

Amazing, isn't it?

However, if Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 250 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today.

Game over. Nerd wins.

        An interesting note: When my father was a teenager in the 1930's, a "SQUARE" was a great compliment. It meant that you were unique -- it meant that you had enough guts to stand out and make a difference.   By the 1950's, the meaning of "square" had gone from positive to negative... it still meant that you were unique, but now it was "you don't fit in!"   Then, in the early 1980's, a popular / rock & roll group Huey Lewis & the News sang "It's Hip to be Square!"  

    It is the job of every generation to change the meaning of a word... once upon a time, if you were "BAD," you were evil ... now if you are "BAD," you are "KNARLEY!" Once upon a time, if you were "KNARLEY," you were twisted. Now if you are "KNARLEY," you are "AWESOME!" Once upon a time, if you were "AWESOME," you were very large. Now, if you are "AWESOME," you are "P.H.A.T.!" Once upon a time, if you were "FAT," you were overweight. Now, if you are "P.H.A.T.," you are "De' Bomb!"  Once upon a time, if you were "De' Bomb," you were exploding. Now, if you are "De' Bomb," you are "RADICAL!" Once upon a time, if you were "RADICAL," you were a troublemaker. Now, if you are "RADICAL," you are "COOL!" Once upon a time, if you were "COOL," you were cold. Now, if you are "COOL," you are "HOT!" Once upon a time, if you were "HOT," you were sweating. Now if you are "HOT,"  you're ... not!....  

Once upon a time, you thought all "NERDS" looked like TV's Erkle... but now you know that Nerds also look just like you and me!

NERDS RULE!

Word History: The word nerd and a nerd, undefined but illustrated, first appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo: "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, a Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seer-sucker, too!" (the nerd itself is a small humanoid creature  looking comically angry, like a thin Chester A. Arthur.) Nerd next appears with a gloss, in the February 10, 1957, issue of the Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday Mail in a regular column entitled "ABC for SQUARES": "Nerd -- a square, any explanation needed?" Many of the terms defined in the "ABC" are unmistakable Americanisms, such as hep, ick, and jazzy, as is the gloss "square," the current meaning of nerd.   The third appearance of nerd in print is back in the United States in 1970 in Current Slang: "Nurd [sic], someone with objectionable habits or traits... An uninteresting person, a 'dud.'" Authorities disagree on whether the two nerds -- Dr. Seuss's small creature and the teenage slang term in the Glasgow Sunday Mail -- are the same word. Some experts claim there is no semantic connection and the identity of the words is fortuitous. Others maintain that Dr. Seuss is the true originator of nerd and that the word nerd ("comically unpleasant creature") was picked up by the five and six year olds of 1950 and passed on to their older siblings, who by 1957, as teenagers, had restricted and specified the meaning to the most comically obnoxious of their own class, a "square."

BASIC NERD TEST...

NERD TEST ™

I have nerdy parents.    T F

4 Trues = You are a HARD-CORE NERD!

NERD KNOWLEDGE™

I accept the fact that YUK™ happens.

NERD PLEDGE™

I will make "Nerd" a compliment.

I will only date GEEKS and NERD-BABES™!

"YUK MAKES YOU STRONGER! Your strength does not come from a life handed to you on a silver platter – your greatest strength comes from the pain you have survived." Michael Scott Karpovich, CSP

 

Your strength does not come from a life handed to you on a silver platter – your greatest strength comes from the pain you have survived." Michael Scott Karpovich, CSP

 

"NERDS RULE! Everyone struggles ... some do it early in life, some later. The difference is: If we struggle to fit in early in life we never lose our drive, while those who always "fit in" never find their drive." Michael Scott Karpovich, CSP

Copyright © 1996 Michael Scott Karpovich, CSP Dynamic Interactions E-Mail Click Here 

To bring "KARP" into your school, write him directly at P.O. Box 272, Caro, MI 48723 or call 1 (989) 673-3036.

 

GREAT NERD LINKS

1. Official NERD TEST

2. Code of the GEEKS

3. Girls Guide to GEEKS

4. NERD STUFF (essential equipment)

5. RUSSIAN NERD TEST!

6. Other Nerd Links

If you have Microsoft WORD, print your own NERD CARD! Then go forth and convert NERDS!

To get a set of 12 full color pre-printed NERD CARDS for only $5.00  call 1-800-648-3367 with your credit card number! (includes all shipping costs)

CLICK  THE SHOES  TO GO BACK HOME:

Arizona Girl holding Karp's Nerd Card ("Certified Card Carrying Nerd")  She gets it... Nerds Rule (along with Geeks and Dorks!) and she loves them!

YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO NOT STOP THE CHAIN REACTION … FIND YOUR GREATEST STRENGTH FROM YOUR GREATEST ADVERSITY

Michael Scott Karpovich, Certified Speaking Professional

The guy with the mismatched shoes

 
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