I can’t overstate how important Star Trek was to me. My parents were Trekkie. I was born just before Season 2 and was probably fairly lucky my name wasn’t Uhura (It was nearly Sheena of the Jungle but that’s another story all together). I grew up on ST reruns. From here my childhood was shaped and in such a positive way.

I learned to accept all cultures, all ethnic groups, and both sexes as equal. I know that they had a fight on their hands having a woman of African descent on the bridge and that they lost the fight to have a female second in command. I know that a lot of the episodes were silly bordering on tacky and filled with the politics of the 1960s.

But I also know it inspired thousands to do better, to be better people. Look around you at your cell phones and tablets and all the other things seen on that show by the dreamers and made reality by the inspired scientists. It inspired me to be a scientist. I wanted to be Dr. McCoy (and later, as I was preparing for MCATS and Medical School interviews, Dr. Beverly Crusher). I have four separate degrees in science and I owe some of that to my love of Star Trek.

I am here today because of the show. I was bullied through much of high school (being a SF geek didn’t help, it was not cool back then). I was depressed. I considered suicide more than once and I would think about two things what it would do to my mom and what would Spock and Kirk do. I know that sounds silly and unrealistic but it did help so very much.

And now I write SF, not exclusively but I do love writing it. (I have issues imagining the tech because that is not the science I loved). I’m not sure I would ever have gotten into SF if not for Star Trek.

I’ve loved this show all my life. I don’t see that ever changing.

Have some articles on it Cast’s favorite episodes.

USA today’s collection of articles.

Me in my lab today –

In my office –

At home playing with my phaser