Angiola Gabriel, manager of Southwestern Michigan College’s William M. White residence hall, has a master’s degree from Grand Valley State University, a bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College and studied in Rome.

Anggie is also an unabashed nerd.

The Trekkie’s “ongoing mission” on LinkedIn, the business-oriented social networking service, is “to explore different cultures. To seek out new experiences and perceptions of reality. To boldly go where curiosity leads.”

“My master’s thesis talked about nerd culture reclaiming nerd identity. Nerds originally were not cool or popular,” Gabriel said. “There’s a lot more literature than I thought. Social media play a huge role in connecting people who otherwise never would meet.”

The first documented appearance of the word was a whimsical creature in Dr. Seuss’s 1950 book, “If I Ran the Zoo.”

Newsweek magazine in 1951 reported on nerd’s use in Detroit as a synonym for “square.”

An early turning point was 1984’s “Revenge of the Nerds.”

Gabriel categorizes herself as an “amateur Trekkie” because “I haven’t been to a ‘Star Trek’ convention and didn’t meet Leonard Nimoy. I love star-themed shows. Space fascinates me. I’m more obsessed with nerd culture than I am with any fandom within it.

“I’ve been to a couple of comic cons and done a couple of cosplays (a portmanteau combining costumes and play) as Batman. I watched a Batman debate on YouTube. People like Batman because he reflects our feelings of rage about injustice we don’t act on.

“As a woman, I appreciate Supergirl as the first female superhero since Wonder Woman. Black Widow has been prominent in the (Avengers) movies, but (Scarlett Johansson) doesn’t have her own. I watch ‘Arrow,’ ‘Flash’ and ‘Doctor Who’ every week.”

There’s even nerd music, such as the Green brothers.

John wrote “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Paper Towns.” Hank is a musician. They upload videos to Vlog Brothers, their YouTube channel.

She “sort of” likes Harry Potter, having read all seven books and seen all eight movies, but “I’m more a star girl than wizards. Things people are drawn to are random,” said Gabriel, “excited” for the release of Star Wars Episode Seven, “The Force Awakens,” and March’s “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” with Ben Affleck as the Caped Crusader.

At Kalamazoo College 2009-13 (where Steven Yeun, “The Walking Dead’s” Glenn, earned a 2005 bachelor’s degree in psychology), the “Stargate” fan garnered hers in early history and classical civilization, minoring in Latin.

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin conceived the military science fiction franchise around an Einstein-Rosen bridge (wormhole) enabling instantaneous travel across the cosmos.

It originated with a 1994 film starring “The Blacklist’s” James Spader as an Egyptologist.

“I became obsessed,” Gabriel said. “It was very colorful with frescoes and hieroglyphics that were magical to me when I was younger. I loved learning about history,” albeit with the twist crediting evil aliens for ancient civilizations.

“It reflected American culture. There’s a lot to learn from pop culture because it’s who we are, what we think collectively and who we want to be. There’s a lot of fear and concern about the future. On ‘The 100’ (The CW show returning in January after nuclear Armageddon destroys civilization except those orbiting Earth on 12 international space stations) the future is grim.”

Gene Roddenberry created “Star Trek” as a suspenseful adventure like a Western set in outer space that doubles as a morality tale like Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

Stargate spun off three television series, “Stargate SG-1” in 1997, “Stargate Atlantis” in 2004 and “Stargate Universe” in 2009, plus books, video games, comic books, the 2002 animated series “Stargate Infinity” and direct-to-DVD movies “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” and “Continuum.”

“Stargate Universe” ended in 2011 after 354 episodes in 17 years.

Being a female nerd is “complicated,” Gabriel said. “I wouldn’t want to be a female nerd at any other time. It wasn’t always positive, which you see on ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ where they’re socially awkward. From 2000-05 you really see a turnaround. YouTube had a huge influence. More people had access to nerd culture and could participate without going to a comic book shop. The technological revolution definitely brought nerd culture closer in line with mainstream culture. I don’t think it’s completely mainstream, though superhero films do very well.”

Gabriel grew up in Grosse Pointe, second of four girls and a boy.

“My dad was a nerd who liked tabletop games like Empires of the Middle Ages, Munchkin and Risk,” Gabriel said.

In broad stereotypes, White Hall is quiet and academic, compared to Thomas F. Jerdon Hall housing arts majors and Keith H. McKenzie Hall being more athletic-oriented.

“I wanted to work in housing to create a Books, Brains and Board Games community around nerd culture,” Gabriel said. “Dowagiac has a game shop downtown (Radiant Rogue). My husband goes Friday nights for Magic: The Gathering,” a trading card game 20 million play.

About Southwestern Michigan College
Southwestern Michigan College is a public, residential and commuter, community college, founded in 1964. The college averages in the top 10 percent nationally for student academic success based upon the National Community College Benchmark Project. Southwestern Michigan College strives to be the college of first choice, to provide the programs and services to meet the needs of students, and to serve our community. The college is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges.