London: What were you like at school? Were you an outsider? A nerd perhaps? Were you never seen in the “right” outfit? Shunned by the in-crowd? Not one of the popular girls?
If your answer to any of these questions is “yes”, believe it or not you’re in good company. According to a fascinating new book, being a bit of a geek during your school years can help you to become extremely successful later in life.
In The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth - Why Outsiders Thrive After High School, best-selling author Alexandra Robbins takes an intimate look at popularity and “outcasthood” in schools and reveals her “Quirk Theory” – which suggests that the skills and idiosyncrasies that lead us to feel excluded and ignored in school are the traits that can end up earning us admiration, respect and success in adulthood.
The non-comformist Goth girl with her ripped T-shirts, dark make-up and scruffy black hair may be considered weird and a social outcast at school by her designer label-wearing contemporaries, says Robbins, but being brave enough to sit on the periphery of the group and not follow the crowd at a young age will teach her to trust her own judgment, observe others and never judge a book by its cover in adulthood.
It will be the school outsider – the girl who preferred to study for her maths exam rather than go to the disco – who develops the grit, single-mindedness, drive and self-belief to set up her own successful company, follow her dream as an artist or performer or go into politics, Robbins theorises.
The popular girls who like to fit in and base their choices on what’s considered cool within their group of friends never learn to take risks, think outside the box, or feel brave enough to stand out in a crowd or trust their gut instinct, she says.They’re always too busy worrying what everyone else is up to and seeking approval.
But can the quiet, geeky girls with braces and frizzy hair overtake their glossy, popular contemporaries once they leave school?
Kate Middleton, now our very own Duchess of Cambridge, is a pretty good example of how Robbins’ Quirk Theory can transform an unpromising, geeky duckling into an impressive, successful swan.
If the reports of some of her contemporaries are true, a shy and retiring 13-year-old Kate had books knocked out of her hands and was reportedly pushed to the back of the dinner queue at £10 000-a-term girls’ school Downe House because she was considered too meek and skinny by some of her more assertive classmates.
Although Kate herself has never talked about these incidents, it’s telling that she left Downe House after just two terms – and the charity Beatbullying was one of the beneficiaries of the Royal Wedding.
Either way, it’s incredible to see where Kate’s “quirks” – the traits she was ostracised for at school – have taken her as an adult. The slim figure that once drew so much unwanted negative attention from her peers at school, has made her a global fashion icon since she married William.
Her “meek”, understated manners have come into their own now too, allowing her to charm everyone she meets – without upstaging her husband.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling is another example of Robbins’ Quirk Theory at work. She was, in her own words, “a squat, bespectacled child who lived mostly in books and daydreams”.
As an adult, her quirky imagination has netted her an estimated £519million fortune.
But it’s not just celebrities who have reaped surprising benefits from being branded the class loser.
“I definitely felt like an outsider at school,” says Laura Tenison, MBE, the 44-year-old founder and managing director of maternity and baby company JoJo Maman Bebe. Tenison went to school in South Wales and now lives between London and Abergavenny with her husband and two sons.
“I was a tall and gangly child and wore thick, NHS-style glasses, before there was such a thing as Geek Chic. While all the other girls in my school had pretty, frilly white socks, I made do with my brothers’ hand-me-downs.”
However, being an outsider has proved to be a godsend to Laura.
“My geeky school years taught me to be happy in my own company – and not to be scared of walking into new situations or confronting problems head-on.”
Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos agrees with Alexandra Robbins and Laura Tenison. “Being the outsider at school can be a positive thing. Most successful people aren’t followers, but free-thinking individuals who don’t worry too much about the approval of others or being seen as part of a group.”
In our ever conformist, celebrity-worshipping society, the innovation, courage and differences offered by the geeky sides of our personalities are vital to our culture and progress. So don’t hide your love of algebra, Star Wars, medieval folk songs or stamp collecting under a bushel. Celebrate it! – Daily Mail