How To Get Started As A Geek Girl

I've always said that I never want to be the smartest person in the room. It's the reason that I've left a number of jobs. Not that I was smarter than everyone else but that my learning opportunities had dwindled. If I'm not stimulated, challenged and given opportunities to learn, I grow frustrated and bored. In personal and professional situations, I'm happiest when surrounded by interesting, smart and curious people who are always learning new things. One of the major benefits of cultivating relationships with this type of person is that they're a font of valuable information.

Just today, I was trying to register for an Instagram account and got a message that my email address was already in use. I did a search in my email and found that someone had tried to open an account using my address -- by accident, I presume. They were unsuccessful and so the account is no longer active but Instagram wouldn't let me create another. I searched their Help page but could find nothing about this issue there. And I could find no way to contact anyone at Instagram by email or phone. Frustrated, I went to Facebook and posted the problem there. Within a few minutes, a smart web developer friend of mine had a fix. I tried it and it worked! I thanked my lucky stars, once again, for having smart friends who know things that I don't.

A couple of weeks ago, another smart friend of mine wrote a blog post of resources for her friend's "11-year-old daughter who is interested in getting into the gaming industry." What a seriously great idea. All I could think is how lucky that girl is to have a mom who has cool, smart friends to reach out to for help. I think like-minded people naturally find each other but cultivating quality friendships still takes work and time. You have to be willing to share your own knowledge as well as have the courage to act on the experience and knowledge of others. You have to be a good friend who listens, keeps confidences and gives good advice when it's asked for. More importantly, you have to be willing even eager to not be the smartest person in the room.

Courtesy of amysmartgirls.com