(Blog Entry) The Road to Geekdom: New Geek on the Block

By Sandra D. Sukraj

As the new geek on the block, I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured there would probably be a lot of Star Wars and fan-fests, maybe some costumes, and Star Trek (which isn’t the same as Star Wars. Who knew? Kidding! That much, I knew.) But I figured it would be a learning experience (I LOVE to learn!). And, learn stuff, I did.

“When life gives you questions, Google has answers.”

I think the first, and most important, lesson that I learned right from the start is that while Google knows everything, you have to be pretty specific when searching. How did I learn this? I’m glad you asked! Innocently enough, I Googled “role playing.” (Disclaimer: NOT SAFE FOR WORK.) The results weren’t exactly of the cosplay variety. Which was my intention for the search! So lesson one: practice safe searching! Or just be more specific.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

I probably am just too curious for my own good. So I’m told. I don’t think so. But I’ve also been told I’m too stubborn for my own good. Do with that what you will. I didn’t even TRY to ease into this newfound “geek” territory. I wanted all of the knowledge that my colleagues could impart on me. So began the lessons on bronies and furries.

These were topics that I previously had no idea of at all. None. Nada. But it peaked my curiosity and I watched a documentary on bronies and Googled furries.

Our First Event Coverage

For our first event, we got access to the Unplugged Expo. I was unable to attend this event because I had a family funeral to go to on the same day, at the same time. However, my three colleagues attended and I got to see the pictures of all the festivities. There were some really cool pictures. Some of the costumes were amazingly detailed.

Then I saw the male Sailor Moon costume. “Sailor Man.” After the crash-course I had at the start of this adventure, seeing this didn’t really shock me as much as you’d think. I eventually learned that this is called gender-bending.

The Next Adventure

We decided to try out room escapes. They lock you in a room and you have a certain amount of time to escape. Or try to.

I was super excited to try the “Garage” room at The Great Escape. I was told it’s a serial killers garage and you have to escape before the timed limit of 45-minutes or else the serial killer would burst in. This really excited me. (I love fear. Don’t judge. You’re judging, aren’t you? Aren’t you!)

Long story short, we failed. If you want to know if a serial killer burst in and almost gave us a heart attack, check the place out for yourself.

For some sort of redemption, we decided to attempt another room. You’re handcuffed, blind folded, chained together and have to free yourselves and escape. We managed to free ourselves. But we still failed. HOWEVER, in both rooms, we got SO close. If we had five more minutes, we could have done it. Really. We could have.

The next day we went to Breakout Adventures. I. Loved. This. Place. So far, they only have one room available, but it was so much fun. It’s a lot bigger and, for me, more interactive. Again, we got SO CLOSE. We really did. You don’t believe me, do you?

Overall, the escape room experience was so fun. I highly recommend giving room escapes a try. And, if you’re looking for something fun to do on date night, I recommend a scary room. What? I told you I love fear. Give me a horror room escape over a chick flick any day.

To sum it up…

I learned and experienced a lot of things I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t decided to tread onto unfamiliar territory. Hopefully you all have as much fun reading our magazine as we had putting it together.