Growing up in the U.S., most of us wanted to fit in, be accepted, and make friends. No one wanted to stand out and be the “weird kid” in class.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7d49e41-a80e-46af-abf6-7d1c92a851e2_900x400.jpeg)
Heck, no one wanted to be labeled as the smart kid, the nerd, or the geek in school either. Sad, huh?
Maybe it was a Midwestern thing in the U.S., but it wasn’t cool to be smart (at least not in the 70s and 80s)…