Growing up with Spock and an introduction
"Check the circuit!" Spock stated as he strode down the bridge to stand next to Captain Pike. The opening scene of "The Cage" is not my first memory of Spock but it is the first line spoken in all of Trek and our first introduction to Mr. Spock. granted, "The Cage" was not picked up by NBC and the scene just described is not seen until it is spliced together later into "The Margarine" but hey, this is an introduction to my Star Trek blog and as a Historian and History teacher, I figure I should start with the first line of what was the first fully made episode of Trek.
My goal for this blog is to explore Trek as it relates to me, education/teaching, and to have some fun because really, the fan community is awesome and we all need to have fun! Each week I will focus on a topic and hopefully, you will enjoy what I write. Alright, let's go!
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School has always played an important role in my life. I loved and still do love going to school as is evidenced by the fact I am a History teacher. Learning is an activity I enjoy and Star Trek has always been a part of my academic life. I would watch Trek when I came home from school, talk to friends about it at lunch, and I viewed my Social Studies and History classes as a way to study Earth from an aliens perspective because in many ways, to the people I went to school with, I was somewhat an alien. My last name is Khorshidianzadeh which roughly translates from Farsi as "Born of the Radiant Sun". Ethnically, I am half Iranian and half French Canadian/United States American. Being half Iranian in the late 80s and 90s while going to school always meant people of all types constantly asked me "What are you?" I still get that question today as an adult. As a child, being asked "What are you?" by strangers, other kids, and teachers made me feel as if I wasn't really a human like them. I would tell them I am an American and they would respond with "No,no, you know what I really mean. What are you?! Where are you from?" I would tell them I was born in the US and then they would push more. "No, you know, where are your parents from?" they would often ask and I would tell them about where they came from and that would be that....until they would comment my last name has every letter in the alphabet and was hard to say. It isn't hard to say and doesn't have every letter in the alphabet.
So what does that all have to do with Star Trek? What does it have to do with Spock? A lot and though I always knew it, it didn't fully hit me until Nimoy's death 5 years ago. I'm a High School History teacher and like any History teacher and Captain Janeway, I am fueled by coffee. The more, the better. I was getting my morning coffee and a coworker came into the coffee room and said "Oh hey, you like Star Trek, I saw in my feed that Dr. Spock died today." I hadn't been checking my social media that day or the day before and without thinking I said to her "It's Mr. Spock, not Dr. Spock, that's a common....wait...what did you say?" I hadn't had my coffee yet, there was a bit of information lag and though I knew Nimoy was ill from years of smoking and having trouble getting around, I wasn't prepared for hearing the news. My chest tightened, I nearly dropped my mug and I was shocked. I thought of how much Nimoy and Star Trek influenced my life and I wanted to go home, curl up on the couch, watch Trek and mourn.
I didn't. I took a breath, thanked my coworker for letting me know and immediately thought of what Kirk said "How we face death is at least as important as how we face life." then I thought of Spock. Spock would state it is only logical that I continue through my day, teach and help my students as they are here, ready to learn, and would benefit from my class. Nimoy would still be gone at the end of the day and I could go on doing what the needs of many needed. Even in death, Nimoy and by extension, Spock were still teaching me things about life.
When I was younger, I gravitated towards Spock because of his dual nature. He was half Vulcan, half human, and always caught between the push and pull of the expectations of others. His father wanted him to join the Science Council, McCoy wanted him to stop being so dispassionately logical, and Kirk valued Spock as a whole person. My Dad does remind me of Sarek in that one, my Dad kind of looks like Mark Leonard, and two, my Dad wanted me to be an Engineer. I instead chose to become a Historian and History teacher. My Dad, like Sarek did with Spock, eventually came around to understand my career choice and me, like Spock did with Sarek, ultimately found a way to do some of the things my father wanted me to do in my career as a teacher. I'm pretty tech savvy and that's good.
My brother and I are huge Trekkies and we both gravitated towards Spock because of his logical nature, the Vulcan way of controlling emotion, and being part of two very different worlds. Like Spock, my brother and I know that it is only logical to be yourself, to fully embrace all you are able to do and that "logic is only the beginning and not the end of wisdom". I hope that you, the reader, will continue to read this blog and positively contribute to it. Live Long and Prosper everyone!
My goal for this blog is to explore Trek as it relates to me, education/teaching, and to have some fun because really, the fan community is awesome and we all need to have fun! Each week I will focus on a topic and hopefully, you will enjoy what I write. Alright, let's go!
--
School has always played an important role in my life. I loved and still do love going to school as is evidenced by the fact I am a History teacher. Learning is an activity I enjoy and Star Trek has always been a part of my academic life. I would watch Trek when I came home from school, talk to friends about it at lunch, and I viewed my Social Studies and History classes as a way to study Earth from an aliens perspective because in many ways, to the people I went to school with, I was somewhat an alien. My last name is Khorshidianzadeh which roughly translates from Farsi as "Born of the Radiant Sun". Ethnically, I am half Iranian and half French Canadian/United States American. Being half Iranian in the late 80s and 90s while going to school always meant people of all types constantly asked me "What are you?" I still get that question today as an adult. As a child, being asked "What are you?" by strangers, other kids, and teachers made me feel as if I wasn't really a human like them. I would tell them I am an American and they would respond with "No,no, you know what I really mean. What are you?! Where are you from?" I would tell them I was born in the US and then they would push more. "No, you know, where are your parents from?" they would often ask and I would tell them about where they came from and that would be that....until they would comment my last name has every letter in the alphabet and was hard to say. It isn't hard to say and doesn't have every letter in the alphabet.
So what does that all have to do with Star Trek? What does it have to do with Spock? A lot and though I always knew it, it didn't fully hit me until Nimoy's death 5 years ago. I'm a High School History teacher and like any History teacher and Captain Janeway, I am fueled by coffee. The more, the better. I was getting my morning coffee and a coworker came into the coffee room and said "Oh hey, you like Star Trek, I saw in my feed that Dr. Spock died today." I hadn't been checking my social media that day or the day before and without thinking I said to her "It's Mr. Spock, not Dr. Spock, that's a common....wait...what did you say?" I hadn't had my coffee yet, there was a bit of information lag and though I knew Nimoy was ill from years of smoking and having trouble getting around, I wasn't prepared for hearing the news. My chest tightened, I nearly dropped my mug and I was shocked. I thought of how much Nimoy and Star Trek influenced my life and I wanted to go home, curl up on the couch, watch Trek and mourn.
I didn't. I took a breath, thanked my coworker for letting me know and immediately thought of what Kirk said "How we face death is at least as important as how we face life." then I thought of Spock. Spock would state it is only logical that I continue through my day, teach and help my students as they are here, ready to learn, and would benefit from my class. Nimoy would still be gone at the end of the day and I could go on doing what the needs of many needed. Even in death, Nimoy and by extension, Spock were still teaching me things about life.
When I was younger, I gravitated towards Spock because of his dual nature. He was half Vulcan, half human, and always caught between the push and pull of the expectations of others. His father wanted him to join the Science Council, McCoy wanted him to stop being so dispassionately logical, and Kirk valued Spock as a whole person. My Dad does remind me of Sarek in that one, my Dad kind of looks like Mark Leonard, and two, my Dad wanted me to be an Engineer. I instead chose to become a Historian and History teacher. My Dad, like Sarek did with Spock, eventually came around to understand my career choice and me, like Spock did with Sarek, ultimately found a way to do some of the things my father wanted me to do in my career as a teacher. I'm pretty tech savvy and that's good.
My brother and I are huge Trekkies and we both gravitated towards Spock because of his logical nature, the Vulcan way of controlling emotion, and being part of two very different worlds. Like Spock, my brother and I know that it is only logical to be yourself, to fully embrace all you are able to do and that "logic is only the beginning and not the end of wisdom". I hope that you, the reader, will continue to read this blog and positively contribute to it. Live Long and Prosper everyone!
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