I am a little bit nerdy, in the Dutch sense of the word at least. This is demonstrated through the fact that I have science heroes (many of my friends had no idea what I was talking about). Broadly speaking, there are three categories of people that make me insanely happy to be in university. I could call them anything but I like the word heroes, because it signifies the immense amount of inspiration they provide me sometimes.
It's not always easy to stay motivated, especially when university simply becomes too much for me: I may have medication but I would not be in university if it wasn't for a few other adaptations made so I can succeed. It's not that I'm severely disabled, I don't consider myself to be at least, but sometimes having ADHD does have its drawbacks. The first category of people is those who helped me realise that ADHD can be both an impediment but also a strength, something that makes me stand out from the crowd. It can be positive. Although perhaps they aren't necessarily professors (they can be), they're mostly directly related to university. I'm lucky to have met people that recognise my difference and pushed me to turn this into something positive. I had an Austrian housemate for a while, he called me crazy "in the positive sense of the word" - his argument was that brilliant people are always a little bit crazy, and if I managed to walk the line on the relatively sane side of brilliance, I would continue to be awesome. It makes me want to be different and creative.
University is a big part of my life, and my second inspiration comes from professors. People like Eva Midden, Joris van Eijnatten, Laurien Crump stand out to me, because they have challenged me to be creative, to think creatively and to experiment with the subject matter of their courses. Of course, most of my courses in university have been interesting and challenging, but some just dealt with 'the boring facts' - these people stand out because of the discussions in class and because they treat their students as equals. In university, I think you have to believe that ideas matter, at least as a student of history (or genderstudies). To write an essay then, is not an exercise in pointlessness, but to create something that might matter. Of course, it might not win the Nobel Prize for Peace, but that does not mean it should be treated as meaningless. What set these professors apart for me, is that they encouraged creativity and originality, as well as critical thinking. Their feedback on essays reflected the fact that they took what I (and others) wrote seriously. I think nothing is more motivating to me, than to feel like what I say has value, that it deserves to be read and criticised and discussed, but more importantly, that is a good think to experiment and be creative in what to write and how to say it: Standing out is a positive quality.
Because of all the essay writing (and the great enthusiasm with which I undertake this activity) a third category has formed. These probably are the true science heroes, or at least what inspired me to use this term. There are people out there who write things that break my brain. I get goosebumps from the things they tell me through their books, essays and lectures. One day, I hope to be the next Eric Hobsbawm, because I think his theory on the invention of tradition is amazing. I hope to rival the work of historian Joan Scott, because she showed me how history and critical gender theory could be combined. I can only hope to be as ethical as Peter Singer or as brilliantly creative as Rosi Braidotti. I hope to always think of standpoint theory, of intersectionality, post-modernism, power-relations, constructivism, to always be critical, enquisitive, curious. Constantly, there are people who literally blow my mind, and this is why I love learning, why I love being in university and why I call myself a nerd.
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