To generations that spent time watching “Saved by the Bell” and “Family Matters,” the word geek instantly triggers images of Screech Powers and Steve Urkel.

These famous geeks were created with stereotypical characteristics such as gigantic glasses, voices dominated by puberty, laughs accompanied by snorts and jacked-up pants with suspenders. Surprisingly to some, intelligent people in real life don’t possess that combination of quirks.

I define a geek as a person who is smart, but continues to learn and likes to put his or her knowledge to use. We tend to look down on people who have enthusiasm toward learning.ÿ Instead, we should consider the benefits of being intelligent and do what we can to reach our potentials.

To begin, I’ve noticed that well-educated people tend to be good listeners. During classes, they aren’t daydreaming about being on reality TV; they’re busy trying to understand the physiology of nerve cells or what makes the phrase “try and” nonstandard English.

These people realize the obvious: they’re in college, they’re paying tuition and they might as well get something out of it. People can dream of meeting Elvis anytime, but the opportunity of someone explaining one of Shakespeare’s plays comes less frequently. Therefore, we should try listening in class rather than tuning out what our professors and peers are saying. Generally, we neither remember nor use the daydreams we had during class anyway.

Furthermore, discussions with well-educated people generally are more engaging than idle chatter with ignorant people.

A conversation about one’s favorite brand of hair spray doesn’t have the power to drastically change someone’s life, but perhaps an informative discussion about chemicals in hair spray does.

I’m sure I’m not alone when admitting my love for heated discussions. I grew up the youngest of six children, so, of course, my brothers and sister and I often had differing opinions.

I learned quickly when discussions were over my head.ÿ While my siblings were experienced and intelligent debaters, I didn’t have enough solid evidence to support my views, so I always was defeated quickly.ÿThrough the years, though, after I grew knowledgeable about more subjects, my opinions began to have a stronger voice.

And it’s true, when we possess more knowledge, our words become more credible. We can achieve this by reading books and articles, listening to others and paying attention in classes.

The liberal education we are required to have at this university makes us become more educated in a variety of subjects, which helps us understand and have discussions.

Independence is a cherished privilege that also increases with knowledge. If we’re educated, we can make our own decisions.ÿ For instance, if we learn about basic human anatomy and physiology, we can make better choices concerning our health.ÿ By wholly depending on others to make intelligent decisions, we make ourselves spectators of our lives rather than active participants.

Henry David Thoreau said, “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait ’till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off.” This further demonstrates that not being able to make intelligent decisions could put our lives on hold. When we don’t know what to do about problems, we dwell on them more, because we have to find someone to help us figure out what to do. Our concerns change from, “What can I do to benefit the world?” to, “What are you going to do to help me?”ÿIf we possessed more knowledge, we would be able to put more effort toward more important issues.

Individuality is embraced by current generations. Although being a nonconformist is not always considered cool, it is a practice that deserves some respect. It requires more thinking than going with the flow. Rather than accepting what society claims is true, a nonconformist carefully analyzes information before deciding what to do or believe. This increases the range of opinions and ideas in today’s society.

Learning makes us feel better about ourselves and helps us become more individual, even if we aren’t cut out to be geeks and nonconformists. The more reading, listening and discussing we do, the more unique our views become.

Our minds are one of the only things we have complete control of. We can’t control how much tuition costs or how much homework we’re assigned, but we can use our brains as much or as little as we want. If we relinquish our minds to society, we surrender our abilities to create changes and make our communities better places.

In the science fiction novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, reading or possessing books is illegal. The characters are ignorant and are ruled by TV. They don’t care whether people live or die, and they don’t know what it is like to learn.

Although this is an extreme example of minds becoming useless, it is not so farfetched in our world today. Many people are proud of not reading or not studying.ÿBeing referred to as smart isn’t something they strive for. And being called a geek is to be avoided at all costs. I hope I’m not alone in confessing a sincere hope that someday I’ll be worthy of geek status.