Why I Love Star Trek
by Hannah Vestal
I was destined to be a Trekkie from an early age. You see, my grandfather, whom I never met because he died before I was born, was a first-generation Trekkie. My mom remembered him planting himself in front of the television set each night Star Trek came on, and he refused to get up until the episode was finished. She also remembers him dragging her and her mom to the movie theater when
Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released.
My mother has never been a science fiction fan, despite growing up in a house of Star Trek. I suppose the Trekkie gene skipped over her and went straight to me, where it lay dormant until seven months ago.
It all began with my professor in my Technology and Society class in college. He was a big sci-fi fan, and a bit of a Trekkie. As the classes “last hurrah” before being released for the semester (and therefore with the class), the professor brought in what was then the newly released on DVD STXI.
I confess, I wasn’t bitten by the Star Trek bug at that moment. But it certainly got the ball rolling. It wasn’t until several months later that I decided I would sit down and see what this obsession with Star Trek was about. I decided to watch The Original Series first, since I knew I’d be slightly familiar with the characters, and from the name of the show, it was obviously the beginning. That was when it happened. I got sucked in. I’m not even sure when it happened exactly. But somewhere in between watching the episodes
“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and
“The Enemy Within”, I fell in love with Star Trek.
It has taken me a while to know what specifically I love most about Star Trek. As I’ve grown as a Trekkie, I have slowly been able to define my love for Trek.
I have been a big believer in imagination ever since a kid, scribbling down little stories of my own when I ran out of books to read. To find the Star Trek universe, in all its imaginative glory, was like a dream come true. Not just the imagination on the part of all the wonderful writers within the Star Trek franchise, but also the imagination that was sparked within the fans, and me. With Star Trek also comes fan fiction, of which I write some myself.
With that imagination comes a hope for a brighter tomorrow. In a world that seems like it is crumbling apart, socially, economically, and physically, Star Trek offers hope that the human race will survive these turbulent times.
Finally, I fell in love with the Trekkie people. All my life I've just wanted to "fit in" and be "normal". It wasn't until seven months ago when I became a Trekkie that I found a place to fit in within my own realm of normal. The Trekkies I’ve met are all such amazing and good people. They are open-minded and loving, embracing Star Trek ideals, such as IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations). No matter what race, religion, or political views you may have that differ, two or more Trekkies can always find something to talk about.
Being a Trekkie feels natural to me, like breathing. I belong here. This is my destiny. I’ve come home.
