How My Years as a Fangirl Prepared Me for College
My first concert went something like this: bright lights, lots of music, screaming, probably crying, and what I at the time thought was the greatest boy band of all time. That’s right at the age of three I was lucky enough to see the legendary Australian band: The Wiggles. That was my first time fangirling, but it would not be my last.
At age seven I wrote fanmail to Miley Cyrus about her groundbreaking work as Hannah Montana, at age ten my favorite activity was recreating Taylor Swift music videos and filming them on my iPod, at age eleven I got my first One Direction poster, at twelve I was an expert on Greek mythology because of a slight obsession with Percy Jackson. This list goes on and on. I’m a fangirl, always have been, and always will be, this much is obvious, but what isn’t as well known about me is how much my years of obsessions with bands, books, and tv shows prepared me for college. It may sound like a stretch but I assure you there’s a key correlation between the two.
Creativity and Internet Culture
One key aspect of being a part of a fandom is the community you find online. Social media was a big part of growing up for almost everyone in my generation however, when you’re online and interacting with content related to something that gives you such comfort and happiness, inspiration quickly strikes. You become a content creator: writing, editing pictures, and keeping up with all of the latest trends as a way to interact with your community. It was a way to get through a rough day in middle school. Now those skills are ingrained into me making my job as a social media manager at Backpack nostalgic and second nature. Sure, I’ve upgraded in terms of the editing programs I use and have given my content a professional twist, but the fact of the matter is I had a head start. I knew the ins and outs of what gets noticed, how people interact online, and what works on which platforms, all because I immersed myself in fan culture for the things that I loved.
Fact Checking and Research
The thing about being a fangirl is that there is a competitive edge to it all. While of course it was a community, there was always a moment of panic you weren’t a real fan. Whether you blanked on which cabin at Camp Halfblood the children of Hades lived in or said the wrong blood type for your so-called favorite member of One Direction, you never wanted to receive a notification of a comment letting you know about this fumble. This meant as a fifth-grader I unknowingly prepared myself for my future journalism major, and learned how to fact check before publication. While there is a difference in this type of research I conducted then versus now, my point is that once again I was given a head start.
Using What I Know to Understand What I Don’t Know
So I can navigate social media and have the need to fact check already permanently etched into my brain. These are great skills but my favorite skill being a fangirl gave me is my note taking strategy. This semester I am taking a mass media law class, and while I adore the movie Legally Blonde that was where my knowledge of the law ended. The textbook was like learning a foreign language, and I was struggling to understand. That is until I realized that Taylor Swift really does have a song for every occasion. My notes began to fill up with connections to Taylor Swift, her life, and her lyrics. A unit on defamation became no big deal when I used songs off of Reputation and Taylor’s feud with Kanye West as my personal cipher to understand legal jargon. My hand was constantly raised in class, and with a glance at some lyrics I could confidently remember details from a textbook reading because I put them in my own words. By connecting each case to something that I’m an expert in, suddenly it all made sense.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I know it’s easy to look at superfans — young women especially — and laugh. The joke is practically written for you when she opens her laptop, and British pop star Harry Styles’ face pops up on the screen as her wallpaper. But before you discount her abilities, before you think there’s not an extremely intelligent person in front of you, do not mistake a “fangirl's' ' passion as a weakness.