My middle name (James) is short for James Tiberius Kirk, mum thought that Tiberius would've been too obvious. I went into mechanical engineering while my sister went into high level physics. We used to have a rule, if you're quiet and *don't fight* (4 siblings) then you get to stay up and watch Star Trek. yeah. I never really had much chance.
Growing up in the South (central Virginia), I was taught that blacks and whites could be friends, but never date or be together. It just wasn't done. It was against the Bible. I was taught (subtly) that homosexuality was wrong. That other religions were not "true". Then I saw Star Trek. I was born in 1963, so, for all intents and purposes, Star Trek had been there my whole life with its message of equality, and treating people the same and that differences were not something just to tolerate, but in which to rejoice. This changed my perspective at a fundamental level. Even as a a child I saw racism and bigotry as an idiotic waste. My Trekkie view of the world served me well as a policeman, and later, as a father. I have continued this teaching and all four of my kids are Trekkies to one degree or another. Of course, I have always loved the spaceships and the phasers, and the other Treknology and geeky stuff, but that core message of "Infinite diversity through infinite combinations" has rung in my ears throughout the years. Star Trek has been as meaningful and as transformational in my life as any religion could be. It has made me a better man; a better citizen of the world. Truly, live long, and prosper Star Trek, and Happy Birthday!
When Star Trek first premiered, I was only six, but I remember the few times I saw it. No, it wasn't till the early 1970's that Trek and I began a life long friendship. Too young to grasp it originally but the perfect age at the perfect time to "grok" it when I was 12. I was a tall, gangly kid, taller than most of my classmates. I was too smart for every one else's taste, throwing off the curve and so feeling a bit alienated. Then me and my small cadre of like minded friends found the syndicated version of Star Trek on the local UHF station, channel 50 here in Detroit. And suddenly... Clarity. The characters, the stories, the aligories spoke to us and helped us come to grips with a pretty messed up world. But the pivotal moment, THE pivitol moment of my life was in 1973 when 13 year old me and my friends conned our parents into let us go downtown to what turned out to be one of the first big Star Trek conventions, STARCON1. I sewed up my own Starfleet uniform, modeled on my roll model Spock ( refer back to my feelings of being tall and awkward and alienated and you can understand ). Meeting stars and fans and costumers and artists and writers... I had met my people, literally. And unknown to me at the time dozens of the people I was ogling the covention elbow to elbow with would later become my best friends, my extended family and my actual family, cause at that show, was in attendance my future wife, though we didn't meet just yet. This moment set the tone of my life. Finding out I wasn't weird, just hadn't met the tribe yet. This con led to others, which led to inspiring my creativity and my academic career following my hero Spock into the sciences. That led me to university and it was there I officially connect up with my now wife, and several of the others I had met along the way. All these years later, I'm still going to conventions, but running them now. I work all over the spectrum of tech fields. My wife is a professional artist working in the field. We have a wonderful college aged daughter who is an artist and web comic star in her own right. But without Trek, that astounding touch point, I wouldn't have this, or them. And still, there is Star Trek. Those 10 notes that pre-amble the original series theme music still move my soul when I hear them. And I occasionally watch the old episodes and remember the lessons I learned from them and feel that spark of inspiration they lit in me. So thank you Gene, and thanks to the crew, thanks to Enterprise for symbolically taking us to the stars, but also taking us into ourselves. Thanks to all the Fans for being you, and for seeing the world like I do. Live Long, and Prosper.
I remember sitting on the bleachers at my church's gym when another kid came up and sat beside me. I didn't know him and never seen him there before, but he looked about my age, 10 or 11yrs old. We sat quietly for a few minutes watching the older kids play basketball when "the life changing" topic came up. He asked me about Star Trek TNG and our quiet introvert selves kicked off the greatest conversation two 11yr old boys could have. That moment in time created best friends of twenty plus years; friends that would grow in life depicting the best happy, sad, and adventurous memories one could only hope for.
I joined the U.S. Navy and entered the Submarine Force because that was was as close to going to space as I could get. My Boat was the U.S.S. La Jolla SSN-701, not quite 1701 either. But it was good enough for me. Instead of Romulons & Klingons we had the Ruskies. A week doesn't go buy that I don't watch an episode. It's part of our culture and will, for some of us, always be part of us.
My name is Deanna, I am 25 years old, and I was named after Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation. My mom still makes jokes about how I am half Betazoid. It's the best namesake anyone could hope for.
I remember watching Star Trek as a child in Brazil. At that time I had no idea how much it would influence me and my imagination. At that age (and now) the aliens and creatures fascinated and intrigued me. At that time, I had no idea where it would lead me. I have followed the series my whole life. And though my career path started in the medical field, I am now a Special Fx Makeup Artist in the national capital. I now get to recreate all the monsters and aliens that I thought were fascinating during the show. I had the privilege to have done the makeup for characters at The Starfleet Gala at Ottawa Aviation and space Museum. I got to create Klingons and Vulcans for the first stop on a multi-city North American tour. So, you could say it influenced my career a lot.
I remember when I first saw Star Trek. I was six, had never watched anything save Lost in Space, which even as a child, I found, well, childish. Star Trek was a revelation. A cool ship, great (for their time) special effects (even though they couldn't make planets), and a multi-racial cast. This was something I'd never seen before. Growing up in Canada during the turbulent 1960's, I didn't have that great an understanding of the racial tensions the USA was experiencing, but I knew something about it. Yet, here on this show, you had black people, white people, Asians, a 'Russian'...in short, you had everyone represented, including aliens. Star Trek was not afraid to take on certain issues of racism. It showed me, if no one else, people could live and work together. I'm much older and a writer now, and I try to incorporate all the things that Star Trek imparted to me: tolerance, decency, understanding for that which is different. Call it naive or idealistic--and maybe it is--it is how I have tried to see things over the years. To boldly go--and write--where no person has gone before...that's my mantra and I live my life by it.
While in the Army as a medical corpsman in the 70's, I attended my first Star Trek convention. There I saw an ASCII terminal playing a Star Trek game. I had to find out how it worked. I spoke with the operator who showed me the source code listing in the programming language BASIC. I was amazed and enthralled. If I could not fly the Enterprise in reality, I could pilot her virtually. That event led me to an Apple ][, Apple Trek, and my career in programming and later computer networking and all things IT.
Star Trek, specifically the Original Series, was singular in giving me a visual of peace on earth. At the time I first watched these, in the syndication of the 1970-80's, the world was divided on the heals of the cold war. Armchair fears made us question our neighbors all across the planet...not any different than today. When I watched Star Trek I saw Earth as leader of the Federation of Planets. It seemed like there was no doubt our planet would survive. The show was built around the concept of resolving conflict; almost to the letter each episode is still relatable. Thank you Star Trek for being awesome and still relevant.
I remember to like Star Trek since i was a kid, in Venezuela the show wasnt very popular but i love it since the first show, it let me travel where no kid has gone before, but i never was able to find a friend who like it also, i was always the odd kid who likes scifi movies and japanese cartoons, but i always keep looking until a web page on early 2000, called hispatrek, made a call to arms from all trekkers on Venezuela, i couldn' t believe it the first 3 people on that reunion grew to 10, in a couple of years and now, we are a non profit ngo with the objective of teaching science, using practicals examples presented on the show, to kids and any enthusiast eager to learn, we have just reached 15 year of working in this area, and we are happy to celebrate it along with the 50 years of our favorite show, LLAP STAR TREK.
Star Trek had a profound impact on me as a youth in a number of ways. First, it inspired my creativity. I spent much of the 5th and 6th grades (mid-1970s) drawing and redrawing the Enterprise, her shuttles, other Starfleet ships of the line, and Klingon vessels. I still do a lot of drawing, though rarely do I focus on space vessels. As I grew a bit older, I began making my own costumes, props, and model ships of my own design. I really wanted to become a Hollywood prop maker when I graduated high school and headed off to college, but fearing the need to be more practical, I settled for a science degree instead, another love spurred on throughout my primary and secondary education by my love of Trek. Though I never got into cosplay, I still create costumes and props today - whether as decorations for the house or costumes for my children. I still love science, and Trek, and I have shared all three of these passions -- passions sparked by a "silly" syndicated TV show -- with my children, who have each gone on to pursue careers in science or the theater.
Star Trek has played a very influential role in my life and career from the time I was five years old. To celebrate this golden anniversary, here are my top 50 Star Trek memories. #StarTrek50 #LLAP50 50. Renting Star Trek: The Motion Picture more than 30 times on VHS when I was 8. It was rated G, so it was the only one my parents wanted me to see at that point. 49. Obsessing over the Cheerios Star Trek: The Next Generation contest where you could win a walk-on role to TNG. There was a TNG sticker in every marked box that was also your entry. 48. Collecting the TNG ICEE cups from the Orem K-Mart café in 1987. I had all five, but my commander Riker one got put through the dishwasher and scratched the picture off somewhat. I referred to that one as the “Injured Commander Riker” cup from then on. 47. A neighbor man, while on a business trip at a trade show, saw that “Worf” actor Michael Dorn was signing posters promoting Stat-X, a static guard spray. He got one of the posters for me…but mixed up my brother and me, and had it signed to my brother. It still went up on my wall. 46. Recording the In Living Color TOS sketch “The Wrath of Farrakhan” on VHS and getting in trouble for watching it. The racial overtones soared over my ten-year-old head. I just thought it was awesome…was Captain Kirk! 45. Building cardboard Enterprise and Klingon ships with my dad because there weren’t any actual toys of them available when I was eight and a new fan. I also built cardboard TNG bridge, transporter room, and sickbay playsets for my action figures, because real ones didn’t exist. 44. Putting together complete “master” sets of the Star Trek trading cards (including promo cards, sell sheets, and “chase” cards like the holograms, language cards, etc.) in 1991 and 1992. I also traded several sets of BYU football cards for a set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture cards from a dealer in Arvada, Colorado around that same time. 43. Reading the first ten or fifteen TNG novels, beginning with “Ghost Ship,” for my 4-7th grade reading assignments. I loved them so much that I actually, legitimately believed they were going to be hailed among the true classics of literature. 42. Recording a tape with Ryan Anderson that we were going to send to Denise Crosby that was about as cheesy as it could possibly be for a nine-year-old’s “love letter.” That’s probably enough about that. 41. Seeing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier in theaters with my big sister, who undoubtedly had a million other things she’d rather do than take her ten-year-old brother to that particular film. I loved it. But it really doesn’t hold up. 40. Periodic Saturday morning dates with my mom from 9-11-years-old that always ended with picking up a STARLOG magazine or an official Star Trek magazine. 39. Attending my first Star Trek convention in the fall of 1988, and spending all my time in the dealer’s room. Ryan Anderson, who went with me, said that on future conventions, we should “probably do more of the convention part.” And my mom driving me to future conventions, and sitting in her car grading papers while my friends and I attended the show. 38. Wearing only Star Trek shirts in 7th and 8th grades, and wondering why I was picked on all the time. (See also reading the “Klingon Dictionary” in class in this same era, with the same results…) 37. Getting a letter from Paramount Pictures’ legal department after I’d written to the studio begging them to do a sixth Star Trek movie, and suggesting that maybe Leonard Nimoy could direct again, instead of William Shatner, who’d directed Star Trek V. The letter taught me about “unfounded claims of plagiarism.” My dad, for years, laughed about how Paramount’s legal team sent a cease and desist to a 10-year-old kid. 36. Setting up a starship bridge from cardboard boxes, sheetrock, and kitchen chairs in the front room of our house. The piano was a science station. The window was a view screen. 35. Going on Slurpee runs with the high school and college aged cast members of Provo Theatre Company’s “Big River” when I was 12 in 1991. They thought it was so I could hang out with the “big kids.” It was really so I could collect the three 25th Anniversary collector’s cups. 34. Making a “fan film” that I took way too seriously at age 10 in my friend David McDougal’s basement. 33. Using my good grades to get the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (NES video game) video game on the Nintendo, and playing through it in one day, thanks to my friend’s copy of Nintendo Power, and then totally blowing an algebra test the next day. 32. Being on Star Trek-related panels at BYU’s science fiction writer’s symposium LTUE - Life, the Universe, & Everything Symposium when I was 12-14 years old. My jr. high Spanish student teacher, Charlene Harmon, was on the planning committee for that event when I was 12, and somehow convinced the rest of the committee to let me participate! I returned to the symposium in 2005-2010 off and on, as an actual BYU student, and then as a professional writer guest. I there met Rick Bickmore and have been friends with him for 25 years. 31. Winning a Halloween costume contest as Data at the 9th grade school Halloween dance. I mean, I’m no Eric Allan Hall, but a win is a win! 30. Seeing Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as part of the SCERA theater’s summer movie series in the summer of 1987. It was the second Star Trek thing I saw and a couple of months before I discovered TNG (via the aforementioned Cheerios contest). 29. My dad bringing me home Galoob TNG action figures on his way home from work. These were the first TNG toys, and because he worked in a rural Utah town, he was able to find the rarest of the figures (blue Data and Tasha) at the Kmart near his work. 28. Wearing a Star Trek watch to 9th grade drama that was noticed by Sarah. Because of that watch, I was welcomed into Sarah’s circle of friends, and became close with her sisters, too. 27. Winning $100 cash in a Star Trek trivia contest at a convention when I was 14. I was the Deep Space Nine expert. I spent it all at that same convention. Totally worth it. 26. Rob and Michelle bringing me a Captain Kirk Burger King cup in the summer of 2009 when I was going through chemotherapy. They totally got me, and I’m sure it was at great sacrifice, going to Burger King since they are among the healthiest eaters I’ve ever met. 25. Watching and recording on VHS the special 25th Anniversary marathon of TOS episodes and the accompanying TV special hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. I watched that special a million times, and then watched it with my son last week when it was re-aired on TV for the 50th anniversary. (I also loved 1989’s “The Star Trek Saga” hosted by Patrick Stewart, which showed the original TOS pilot “The Cage” and was run because of the WGA writer’s strike delaying season 2 of TNG. My favorite of these specials, though, was 2006’s “Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier,” which was a documentary about the Trek props auction held at Christie’s Auction House. I used the format of that documentary as the basis for a Smallville DVD feature I worked on a couple years later.) 24. Joining the Provo chapter of Starfleet International, a Star Trek fan club made up of “ships” as the local chapters. Ours was the USS Alioth, and we met monthly for activities. We did tons of community service activities for groups like March of Dimes, Sub for Santa, etc. And we attended the Utah premieres of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek Generations in costume. I made lifelong friends there like Keira, Caiti, Christy, the Harmons, and Justin. 23. Watching the premiere episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise during their original airings. I started watching TNG early in the first season, but not at the premiere, but the other shows I joined from the beginning. I intend to do this with Star Trek: Discovery in January. DS9 is my favorite of all of the Star Trek series, and I sort of knew it would be after watching the pilot. 22. My aunt (the same aunt in who’s house I saw my first episode of Star Trek in 1984) picking up the 50th Anniversary Canadian stamps for me last month. 21. Being in Los Angeles on a family vacation to Disneyland, etc. in 1991 during the same weekend as the official 25th Anniversary convention. I wasn’t able to get a ticket to the convention, but spent a lot of time talking to a huge fan at the amazing Star Trek exhibit at the Movieland Wax Museum. Also on that trip my dad “accidentally” turned the car onto the Paramount lot, and asked the surprisingly friendly security guard (of whom I took a picture that caught him off guard) for directions to somewhere. He then asked if we could stop by the Star Trek set as we turned the car around. They said no. 20. Watching the movie Trekkies with Nathan, Jolene, and other friends, and Nathan sharing profound insight into the humanity of the people in the film. While we laughed at them (and sort of ourselves) in the movie, he reminded me that they are people who have a place and something to offer in society. Truly IDIC. 19. Being a guest at the ill-fated MountainCon V in Salt Lake, and sitting between Voyager’s Garrett Wang and the “Captain’s Woman, Marlena Moreau” actress Barbara Luna from TOS episode “Mirror, Mirror.” 18. Twice visiting/participating in Alpine School District’s teamwork-building Star Trek-based simulator at the Christie McAuliffe Space Education Center. 17. Staying up to watch Patrick Stewart host SNL in the spring of 1994. First time I watched that show “live.” 16. Winning tickets to a comedy club from a morning radio show by telling the following joke: “Where does the crew of the Enterprise work out? The he’s dead gym.” 15. First learning about Japanese internment camps in George Takei’s autobiography “To The Stars” published (and read) in the fall of 1994. I was a sophomore in high school, and was so shocked by horrible incident in American history. It had such a profound impact on me that when I was majoring in history in college, I focused on that time period. 14. Watching “The Savage Curtain” episode of Star Trek: The Original Series at my aunt’s house in Calgary over Christmas break in 1984. I was five. It was the first Star Trek anything I watched. Abraham Lincoln got killed by a spear in the back. My older sister taught me that in real life he’d been shot. 13. Road trips in and through Town of Vulcan, Alberta, while driving to visit my mom’s family in Edmonton and Calgary. First one was in the early-90s. Latest one was last month. 12. Getting my first TNG uniform, tailor-made by an elderly woman in the neighborhood, for my 12th birthday. I outgrew it in, like, a month. Stupid adolescence. 11. Collecting Star Trek comics from when I was 10 until I graduated from high school. They were the first, and most consistent, comics I collected. A few years ago, Michelle gave me a DVD that had PDFs of every Star Trek comic published from the ‘60s up through the early-2000s. They, more than anything else, got me into reading (and wanting to write) comics. I have a dream still today of writing one Star Trek comic. 10. Going to the now-defunct Star Trek: The Experience attraction in Las Vegas in 2004 when I was dating Michelle. We’d gone to Vegas for a dance competition she was in. Afterwards we went to the attraction. I posed for a picture in a Borg regeneration chamber. She flexed in front of a glass display class showing female Klingon armor. It’s pretty much why I married her. 9. Being hired as a columnist and regular writer for the official Star Trek Magazine throughout the first decade of the 2000s. 8. George Takei holding my then four-month-old son in the green room of the 2008 Calgary Comics Expo. I was interviewing Smallville’s Lex Luthor Michael Rosenbaum on stage when my son started fussing. Michelle took him out to the green room where George Takei was relaxing. George talked about what a beautiful boy he was and asked if he could hold him. Michelle took a picture but it was lost when her camera she had at the time met an untimely death. 7. My poster signed by the entire cast from 2009’s Star Trek reboot movie. I was in the middle of chemotherapy, and my oncologist told me not to go to movie theaters and other public places with large crowds because my immune system was so compromised. Crushing news. I have a friend who is an exec at IMAX, and knowing what a Star Trek fan I am, sent me the signed poster. (As an aside, I may or may not have seen a copy of the film with questionable origin online, but I purchased a ticket on Fandango so I paid to see it.) 6. Going to the first Provo showing of Star Trek: First Contact in 1996 with Jolene, after basically having been ordered to ask her out by our friend and teacher Syd. That kicked off a 20-year friendship that is among my most cherished. 5. Dressing as Spock for Halloween in 3rd grade (1987). My 3rd grade son is going as Captain Kirk for Halloween this year…and asked me to go with him as Spock. 4. Getting the Enterprise Bridge playset from Playmates Toys’ incredible line of TNG toys for Christmas 1993. It was and is the greatest Christmas present I ever got. I collected more than 90 of the action figures from that series of toys, and still have most of them. My son loves playing with them today. 3. Receiving a letter from Star Trek comics editor and novelist Robert Greenberger with writing advice and feedback on a (horrible) 40-page, all dialog, TNG story I wrote when I was eleven. Bob treated me with great respect, and gave me counsel on writing, story, and characterization that literally changed my life. Meeting Bob at the DC Comics offices on my honeymoon in 2005 and thanking him in person was a highlight of my life. 2. Writing Star Trek: Starfleet Logbook for the 50th anniversary. Coolest part of this was getting copies of the style guides for all the Star Trek 50th Anniversary merchandise. 1. Attending the red carpet premiere of Star Trek Beyond in July 2016 in San Diego with Michelle. That is the coolest experience I’ve ever had—Star Trek or otherwise—and I got to share with my favorite person I’ve ever known.
When I was a little girl, Star Trek was a family affair; everyone would watch, we knew all of the characters, and afterwards there would be dramatic pitted space battles between me, my father and my brother. At night, I used to stare at the stick-on glow stars on my ceiling and dream of being captain of my own ship out exploring the stars. Nowadays, Star Trek has a much more real meaning for me. I suffer from terrible social anxiety and depression - sometimes it's hard to face the day. What brings me the most comfort is thinking of the captains I've grown up admiring. Would Captain Kirk let himself be stopped? Would Captain Picard be too afraid to talk to that person? Would Captain Janeway run away from a problem? When I'm afraid or sad, I think of them and it makes me feel brave. It makes me feel like I actually CAN boldly go where I haven't gone before, and that really means the world to me.
My father, a survivor of Polio, watched a lot of television especially, science fiction. His passion for science and architecture was influenced by Star Trek. I grew up on the TV shows in the 70s, watched every movie, and used to be able to recite them all. He continued his passion for all things Star Trek, with Deep Space Nine and every spin off made. He bought anything that had the emblem on it from board games, china, doll and action figures, puzzles, post cards, technical plans of most of the starships, even had Lenard Nimoy's vinyl record. When he passed away, we picked out a silver-grey casket that reminded us of a photon torpedoes. We pinned an electronic button to his lapel that was a replica of the communicator worn by the original TV series cast. To this day, when I visit his grave, I listen for the familiar chirps (no not to dig him out!) He went boldly, where none of us could go. Through watching how passionate he was about the values of acceptance and the desire to continue to explore, taught me to question everything and to accept all. I'm grateful I have those memories with my dad.
I turned 10 shortly after "Star Trek" premiered. I was captivated from the beginning by its optimistic view of a rational human future, one in which we humans advanced through compassionate cooperation without regard for skin color, gender, religion, species, or any other perceived differences. We still have a long way to go toward achieving that potential future, but "Star Trek" will always stand as a beacon telling us we CAN get there. In 1967, still aged 10, I wrote to Gene Roddenberry asking quite seriously how I could submit a story to "Star Trek." He actually wrote back (on Desilu letterhead stationery, no less!), and while it must have been obvious that I was a kid, he didn't talk down to me as one. Instead, he wrote straightforwardly about how difficult it was to break into TV script writing, and emphasized the need to establish a track record and obtain an agent. At the same time, however, he encouraged me to keep writing, starting with what I knew and felt passionate about. I have never forgotten his kindness or his advice -- and I've never lost my innate optimism, believing our species CAN evolve into a rational one, as epitomized in "Star Trek." May we all live long and prosper!
Watching Star Trek as a kid showed me just how powerful science fiction can be. It inspired me to dream, to think deeply about issues addressed in the episodes and movies, and showed me how powerful a great story can really be! Today, I'm a freelance writer. Though none of my science fiction has been published to date, I credit Star Trek as one of the influences that made me start writing in the first place.
I'm actually currently using Star Trek in my classroom as an assignment in my fifth grade STEM classes. They have to watch The Original Series and create a t-chart of tech we have vs. tech we are waiting for from the show. They have to watch three episodes. 5 points each!
I remember watching my first episode of Star Trek, it was Sins of the Father from TNG, so it was sometime in 1990. I was 8. I had already been in school a few years but was already subject to teasing and not being quite as 'normal' as others. My father died 3 weeks before I was born, and that hole in my family made me consistently feel different. When I first saw Star Trek I got instantly hooked, it became an outlet for me to forget about the rest of the world. I vividly remember looking forward to Saturday evenings where I could see a re-run, then a new episode. Star Trek sparked my interest in computers and shaped my career path. I am now an IT manager for a company that comes as close to Star Trek as anyone can, we build satellites to explore space, most recently Pluto. My office at home is decked out in Star Trek collectibles, I am known at work as the 'Star Trek' guy, and my license plate is even 'JT Kirk'. I seriously believe that without Star Trek my life would have been completely different.
When I was 6 my Dad used to watch Star Trek. There was one episode " Who Mourns for Adonis" it made such a big impression on me that when I picked up a Star Trek Reader, I instantly recognized the story. This led me to seek out reruns. I became an avid fan back in the days when being a Trekkie was an accepted term. I hooked my family on the show. When it was time to find a career, Star Trek shaped my future and I became an Engineer. That might not sound very special except that I am a woman and women engineers were very few and far between. It also was unheard of in my family at the time. Teachers, lawyers, doctors yes, but not engineers. Until Star Trek there were no engineers on TV. Even now they are few and far between. So thank you Star Trek for my career
My brothers introduced me to Star Trek when I was very young. The thought of space, the universe, traveling to the stars seemed to touch my soul. In elementary school, I got a book from the library on how to build a telescope. I dragged my mom out of the house to watch the perseid meteor showers. I vividly remember the night I could actually see Saturn's rings through a telescope!! I wanted to be an astrophysicist or chemist. My dream job would have been to work for NASA developing better heat shield tiles for the Space Shuttle, or work at Mt Palomar. So many things I wanted to do..... Although Life had other plans for me as I raised my family, my love for science and space has never died. I encourage my children to reach for those stars, reach for your dreams, explore...... NOTHING is impossible!! My life was forever changed by one man who had a vision. Even if it was "just a TV show", it sparked something deeper. I hope that spark will continue to ignite in many more generations to come!
I remember when I first "got" Star Trek. It was the last 1970's, I was almost 10 and it came on in reruns on the network that came in the most clear in my house. Remember when TV reception depended on actual attennae? There was this group of people of different ethnicities and other species working together in peace exploring the universe. The effects where cheesy but each story was an ethical dilemma and/or crisis of conscious and/or faith, told in a satisfyingly "other" world that you don't initially get the morality play, a world with an ever expanding universe that is open to EVERY possibility, with equality and humanity. MIND BLOWN. I was a 9 year old African American girl in Washington DC born to striving middle class graduate student parents who was still be told "little girls don't....(insert EVRYTHING I'm interested in here). MIND BLOWN. The world of Star Trek, the possible future imagined actually included people who looked like me who were doing things way outside the sandbox drawn for me. Despite the institutional racism and inherent misogyny in our society I was a superstar at almost everything I tried. My skill was learning and mastering new skills. Although I was good at a lot of things I did not like a great majority of things I tried- meaning learned and mastered and walked away from. Despite external pressures and naysayers I kept at it because I *knew* in my heart of hearts from the time I was little that the human race was meant to evolve into a more peaceful and equitable global society. I knew I could be what someone like me maybe had not been because- Star Trek. I know this like I know the sky is blue. We all accept that the sky is blue and consider this core social knowledge. This is how I approach the world. Knowing in my heart of hearts from the time I was little that the human race was meant to evolve into a more peaceful and equitable global society. I know we were meant for better and all this foolishness on the way is simply a phase in our evolution. Like when we all learned to walk- one step at a time. Each time we got up it was 50/50 we'd learn and master this new skill and be able to apply it at will. Vary it, improvise, choreograph. So, my Star Trek story is that this narrative in all its versions imagines us as better than we are. A world beyond petty -isms and -obias. No sexism, no racism, no ageism, no antisemitism, no Islamahomophobia, no homophobia, transphobia. Imagine. Someone did over 50 years ago and we are still not there yet. Closer still but everyday recently it feels 50/50. That little African American girl grew up to play soccer for 30 years because she loved it. She made a career that did not exist in her childhood- educational technologist, digigriot, digital media arts and robotics teacher. Note the technology trend? I was an educational technologist before there were Educational Technology graduate or undergraduate programs. I'm proud to be among the pioneers in this field. I love education, innovation, reflection and the intersection. I have a big hungry brain. In whatever I tried I never thought I couldn't because I knew it was possible like I knew the sky was blue. Why? Because everyday at 4:00pm or whatever time it came on after school my little brother- the afrofuturist- and I watched Star Trek and imagined ourselves in a society without the limitations we encountered daily. Why? Because Star Trek. One of my few regrets is that I never made it to a convention and met Leonard Nimoy. I am so thankful he dedicated his life to the character of Spock. This is one of my favorite characters from all genres of storytelling. Today I teach Photography and Film (PAF), Computer Programming and Robotics (CPSR) and Robotics. I'm lucky I love my job- this is a great educational community full of innovation and reflection. Here, like Lieutenant Uhura, I get to use all my geeky talents and hungry brain as part of a team of educators. Educators working to prepare our students for an ever evolving future full of innovation. Educators working to prepare our students to boldly go...where no one has gone before. (cue music)
I loved science fiction as a child, my 1st books were The Stainless Steel Rat series. But unfortunately I was the only one reading science fiction in elementary school and the books where located in the Youth Adult library section (The Main Philadelphia library ) a forbidden area for elementary school students at the time (1960's). I had to make a secret pact with the check out librarian to get the books. Soon I decided to write my own stories and add family and friends as characters in my short lived career as a budding writer. When someone told me about a science fiction series on TV with an Asian man and a Black woman - I was shocked - was this possible? I started watching the show immediately and became a fan of Spock and Sulu (it was love at 1st sight) and seeing an afro haired Black woman gave me so much pride. I always secretly wished Spock and Uhuru would become lovers. Even though I had to wait many years for it to happen - It was well worth the wait. Star Trek got me interested in exploring different cultures and traveling internationally . I thought if I could not travel to space and meet aliens - I could travel the world instead and meet different people.
Fifty years ago this week, the first Star Trek episode aired on television. It has become more than a television show for so many people, myself included. I remember watching first run episodes with my dad when I was 5 or 6 years old. Then I watched syndicated episodes after elementary school. They aired every weekday on a local television station at 4:00 pm. In 6th grade, we had a "Star Trek" club where we reenacted episodes at recess. I was the only girl, but I wasn't Lt. Uhura. I was Mr. Spock. (And I had a huge crush on Captain Kirk -- both the adult version and my grade school version!) The show was a huge part of my cultural experience in my formative childhood years, and it has impacted me for nearly all of its 50 years. Because of Star Trek, I became passionate about Greek and Roman mythology. I read everything I could get my hands on at my local Carnegie Library about stargazing and star lore. I begged my parents for a telescope, and my dad got me one for my 12th birthday. I spent so many nights outside my parents' bedroom window looking at the moon, planets, and double stars. I dreamt of going into space, or, at minimum, flying an airplane. I wanted to be an astronomer, but Mrs. Johnson's seventh grade pre-algebra class taught me I do not speak the language of math. And that is the language of astronomy. Instead, I became an amateur astronomer, and I gave planetarium shows for eight years at my local science museum. It was the best volunteer gig I've ever had. Star Trek certainly fed the intellectual side of a girl who always cast her eyes upward. But the show was much more than an intellectual influence. Gene Roddenberry had a vision for humanity that was filled with the opportunity to explore, learn, and unite. There are usually challenges with those goals, but, in the Star Trek universe, the good guys always won if they worked hard, showed initiative, and were innovative. What I learned as a kid from watching and re-watching the crew of the starship Enterprise fight the good fight has now become my work ethic: Work hard. Show initiative. Be innovative. Solve problems. Help people. Star Trek was a good teacher. I am forever grateful to the Great Bird of the Galaxy for being such a visionary and showing a little girl from a small Oklahoma town the universe has infinite diversity in infinite combinations. In the mid-1960s and 1970s, I learned race doesn't matter. Gender doesn't matter. Even species doesn't matter. Star Trek taught me EVERYONE matters. And that's the most important lesson of all. Thank you, Gene, and beloved cast and crew members for truly giving me the universe. I will always...remember.
From July 1974 to March 1976 I was in the USAF, stationed at Andrews A.F.B., MD. During that time, I was one of the individuals who worked to restore the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's P-40 Warhawk. (I helped to restore the instruments and instrument panel) The P-40 was restored to flying condition, of which, I saw the taxi test, and it's first flight after the restoration. Some time after the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum had taken delivery of the P-40, and long before the museum was opened, they invited those of us who'd worked on the restoration, to the museum, to see the P-40, and the other exhibits that were completed. They gave us a tour of the place, and along the way they showed us the early stages of a Star Trek display. In a box was the (33") 3 foot model of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), along with other Star Trek props. I recall the tour guide showing us the model, pointing out that there were no lights on the left side as it was only filmed from the right side. There were wires hanging from it, but I don't recall where they exited the model. When we finally got to see the P-40 we'd restored, we were a bit dismayed as it was hung from the ceiling, and none of our work on the instruments and instrument panel could be seen. I regret that I have no photos or physical proof, but I know it was there.
Star Trek has always provided "hope" that our world will endure the challenges of today and tomorrow because the human heart has the capacity to love, endure and survive. Captain Picard and the crew of the Star Ship enterprise represent the best of all of us.
Star trek and I have a bit of history. I first watched it on telly and was instantly amazed by the mixed cultural living harmony the show created. I suppose that it was this ideology that has helped me become the person I am today. The technology facinated me incredibly though and made me wonder if I could try and recreate it. Needless to say it mostly failed leaving numerous radios and electronics broken or dismantled. Pleasingly I did manage to create some stuff that sort of worked and was delighted. It was when the character Sarah MacDougal appeared as Chief Engineer that I realised that I could do it. Jersey is a small island filled with a lot of narrow minded people. So to have a young girl turn around and say I want to be an engineer, well let's just say I was laughed at by most. Thankfully my mum was there to encourage me. Star Trek was the first time that I saw women in positions of power and responsibility and it gave me strength thank you star trek xxx
Although I was too young to watch the The Original Series (TOS) in the 60s, I did grow up watching the re-runs in the 70s. Like clockwork, I would watch our old black & white TV everyday after school at 4pm on channel 12. TV Guide would just list the name of the show but not the episode, so each day I was surprised by the episode, and whenever my favorite episodes aired, I was ecstatic. I have seen every episode countless times, and like the stereotypical Trekker can probably name the episode based on a short plot description! During the 70s, my dad was a truck driver and was gone a week at a time. In the partial absence of guidance from a strong male figure, I gravitated to the characters on Star Trek for my guidance and personal character development. From Kirk I gained courage and a sense of loyalty and dedication -- the same he always showed for his ship and crew. From Mr. Spock I learned how to be logical and rational. And from Scotty I learned how to be a tinkerer and problem solver. Today, some 40 years later, I can definitely say I became an engineer and scientist largely because of Star Trek. As a kid I built models of the ships and props used on the show, and I have never lost that enthusiasm for tinkering and building. I owe Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry a great debt for influencing my life in such a positive and constructive way. So as I look forward to the next movie or series release I raise a glass to you, Mr. Roddenberry and Star Trek. May the adventure continue!
I remember watching Star Trek with my family as a young child. My father worked at Tinker Air Force Base which was a maintenance facility for jets and strategic bombers. My father had been a leader in the Air Scouts before he got married and was a huge fan of NASA. I remember watching the lunar landing on TV with my whole family and then listening to it again with my dad on his reel-to-reel tape player. He and I still share a love of science, technology, aviation, and space exploration. It seems strange to have lived through some of the events in history that Star Trek predicted but never came true while still enjoying technology that Star Trek encouraged. Star Trek actually changed the course of the future by simply existing and setting an example for what could be that was better and achievable.
I grew up on a mountain in West Virginia. Life was tough. We had an old B/W RCA television with rabbit ears and poor reception. Of the available programming, Star Trek was amongst the programs my mother allowed us to watch. I had been watching the show as far back as I can recall and it gave me the inspiration to be both bold and decisive as well as the understanding that you can think your way through most any situation. Later as I entered High School I realized I had an aptitude for electronics that had stemmed from watching Star Trek. I followed my passion and became a Computer Engineer. I am a Systems Administrator and I teach Computer Programming and Technology. I often use Star Trek anecdotes to liven up my lessons and engender interest in the subject. Thank you for your vision Gene Roddenberry, may the wind be at your back!
I became a civil engineer.
I have loved Star Trek for my whole life! I was born in 1984, and I clearly remember watching TNG as early as three or four years old, when it was first on the air. I honestly used to think that it was an accurate and absolute vision of humanity's future, and it gave me so much hope and happiness. I continue to live my life by being the best version of myself I can be, to help bring us one step closer to the hopeful future we deserve.
While some people took inspiration from the future that Star Trek portrayed, I was always memorized by how the behind the scenes crew realized the future in practical terms. As a kid, I'd absorb all the making-of materials - books, interviews, video features etc. Members of the art department became heroes to me as much as some of the fictional characters. I duplicated the artwork of the logos, computer panels etc in my textbooks at school endlessly - which was good practice. As a result of all that subconscious training I now work as a graphic artist on television shows such as Doctor Who and Red Dwarf.
Star Trek helped create a subtle pathway between the two hemispheres of my young brain: the left hemisphere's linear scientific innovation and the right hemisphere's interpretive, poetic and impressionistic way of understanding. Through Star Trek, I learned it was cool to explore the frontiers of science as well as to know Shelly's "Adonais," and what is meant by "The conscience of the King" and "a Dagger of the Mind." Write on, Alan Dean Foster...
In the late 60s, I grew up in a sports family -- mom, dad, two brothers, a sister. I spent my time reading science fiction. It's not that Mom and Dad didn't read, they just didn't use story to escape real life. When he wasn't playing baseball, football, and hockey with my brothers, he watched STAR TREK. I turned 11 in 1968 and was fascinated by both science and science fiction. I loathed sports -- and Dad knew it. One night, I got to stay up late. He was watching STAR TREK. I was hooked. We watched the entire third season together and for the first time, we had something in common. No brothers, sister or Mom shared STAR TREK. We continued to share that love for decades. Then, on the day the STAR TREK Reboot premiered, I gathered my dad, my own son, and a man I've been friends with longer than I've known my wife and we went together. Now my father is a victim of Alzheimer's Disease -- and in lucid moments, we still share STAR TREK. STAR TREK gave me a long-lasting bond with my father that would have never been there otherwise.
I grew up watching star trek, lost in space, and also of course the NASA moon landings. I was so inspired that I later became an astrophysicist. Today am an observatory director and astronomer. I designed our telescope control room to look like a starship bridge. My future was shaped by star trek!
I had always been a fan of Star Trek and finally had come around to watching the new series The Next Generation and I fell in love with the new era of Star Trek. My husband had started watching The Next Generation and had become a fairly recent fan. We met on a Star Trek Website 16 years ago and it was trivia that brought us together. If we'd not developed a love for Gene Roddenberry's creation we would never have met and fallen in love with each other. In essence Star Trek brought two people from totally different parts of the world together and to this day we are still together and just got our copy of the Star Trek Encyclopedia by Mike and Denise Okuda! Thank you Star Trek for bringing us together and Happy Birthday...p.s. I was born in the same year Star Trek was and yes I'm dating myself.
It has been my dream for years to learn more about space travel. Watching films like Star Trek made me wonder what other life may exist in the universe. The Discovery Channel, NASA phone apps, specials on NOVA, and films like Apollo 13 fascinated me as I grew older and Einstein and Hawking became my heroes. In high school I was even voted the person “Most Likely to be a Lifeguard on the Moon”- perfect for my future space dreams! Now, one of my long-term career goals is to improve space travel. In college, my short-term goals include completing a bachelor’s degree in physics with a second major in mathematics and a minor in kinesiology followed by at least a master’s degree in astrophysics. Conducting research and eventually going on to earning a PhD are also part of my mid-term goals. Physics will help me better understand the universe and our place in it. Being part of a team of engineers and scientists who create the technology that transforms dreams of space exploration into reality is my motivational force. I dream of blazing new trails started by famous physicists like astronaut Dr. Sally Ride and Air Force Academy physics graduate Major General Ron Sega. Their dedication to education, research, and public service is awe inspiring. Mathematics and kinesiology will help me better understand the physiological aspects of human motion and how math is used in all facets of designing, building, and flying spacecraft. My hopes are that studying physics, math, and kinesiology will reveal how each can fit together to improve life for astronauts and other space travelers - to help us explore strange new worlds. With my love for the mysteries of the universe, I dream of working with NASA, the Air Force, or private companies on planetary exploration. Combining the study of space and helping others is my true calling, my final frontier if you will. Now that I am in my second year of a university physics program, I can see that combining hard work with team spirit will lead me to fulfill my career dreams, and Star Trek is part of the fuel mixture that will get me there.
Because of Star Trek, I became a pilot so I could travel to outer space. After becoming a commercial pilot for a major airline, I wanted to do more to bring the technology I saw to real life. I volunteered through the Air Line Pilots Association to help in the creation of ADS-B focusing on the display for pilots. Now I am creating the Human - Machine interface and created an interactive manual for the Gemini Spacecraft.
I remember when I was about 11 yrs old and was asked to play a "robot" at a work party my parents were throwing for some out of town visitors. It was 1978, Star Wars fever was in full effect and I was infected like the rest of my age-group. My father was a Colonel in the Air Force and was the Base Commander at Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, Florida. He also was tasked as the Commander of the Eastern Test Range which included launches from Kennedy Space Center. Basically if the military was launching something at the cape, he was one of those with his finger on the button to destroy a rocket if it went astray down the coast. He was good friends with a lot of the NASA folk at the time and especially good friends with their Director. Well, the Director had a special guest in town for a launch and the timing happened to coincide with a large party that was being held at our house on base. Of course he told my father who was happy to have another guest, as he was a big fan of parties. When he found out who it was, he had his assistant order a special treat for our new visitor. It was a near-perfect reproduction of R2D2 that was to be occupied by yours truly, and I would move around the party impressing all the guests with my best droid impression. I was super excited to have anything to do with my favorite movie and couldn't wait to get inside my most beloved character. The day of the party, as everything was being prepared, I was pestering my father about who our special guest would be.."Luke Skywalker?"..."Han Solo?"..."Please tell me it Princess Leia!". My father had enough of my badgering and finally relented with the name...he was so proud to tell me, and with a big smile proclaimed "It's the man behind it all...GENE RODDENBERRY!" "Gene Roddenberry?!? Dad, that's the Star TREK guy!" I shouted. My father was beyond shocked and I think more than a little embarrassed to have made that big of a mistake. He paused for a moment and like the Commander he was, he looked me dead in the eye and in his best Colonel voice exclaimed "The ROBOT is ON it's WAY!!", and I knew exactly what that meant. For the next two hours I was the happiest kid in town...rolling around as R2D2 at our party, impressing of our guests with my bleeps and bloops. My father, as the showman he was, turned the little snafu into a joke for the crowd which, truth be told, Mr. Roddenberry was absolutely tickled with. As it turns out, he was a bit of a Star Wars fan too.
As a first generation American, I was inspired by the mission of exploration and discovery in which the Enterprise and her crew were engaged. The commitment to the principle values (the prime directive) was a model to me as I entered my professional role in Rehabilitation Counseling, where our Prime Directive was to Do No Harm. As a teen (ok i still do) my rebellion was channeled into pioneering new ways... new programs, helping people realize goals and dreams the thought were not possible, all of which i attribute to the spirit of "Boldly Going where No Man has gone before." To this day i am excited by exploring new possibilities and enjoy seeing what would happen if we were to try something new. My spirit of Why not and pushing the boundaries of performance and capabilities. This makes me chuckle a little as I often reference the dialog between Captain Kirk and Scotty when the Captain is asking Scotty to push the limits of the ship and He replies "i am giving her all she's got..." There is a message of being able to do what we thought we could not do, and end up meeting and exceeding the challenge. I am a Trekkie and Proud of it! I guess in my nature I have taken on the traits of the Crew. "Live Long and Prosper!"
I remember growing up in the 70s and 80s watching Star Trek TOS and loving the stories and characters; but, as i watched i never even considered the race or background of the characters in the series. As time went by there have been countless essays, books, and news stories about how the diversity of the characters in the series showed how there is hope for the future of humankind and how we can all get along, but i never considered that. Now, is that a reflection of my ignorance or does it show how well the series was able to put people of color in positions of leadership and importance when those folks were still struggling for acceptance in a world still controlled by white men at the time? I think it showed how well none of that mattered to a young man who just like seeing good plots, action and theatrics and who didn't think twice about who was giving the orders. So, with all that has been analyzed about Star Trek TOS's opening up doors for minorities and showing race and background really doesn't matter when you have a Klingon Star Cruser bearing down on the USS Enterprise.
Star Trek showed me that people could be successful and appreciated not just despite their differences, but sometimes because of them. It also piqued my interest in science and technology since those things were an integral part of the series. For the first, it wasn't always easy being a geeky bookworm, someone who wasn't that great with social interaction and wasn't interested in the same things as most kids, especially the other girls. I was never bullied, but I was alone. Once I discovered Star Trek, it was like discovering another family - and a world in which I would be valued for being myself, even though I was different. Not better, not worse, just different - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Mr. Spock was my favorite character because I found him so relatable. He had different mannerisms. He wasn't overtly emotional. He had a dry sense of humor. He was studious and cautious. He had been mistreated because of his differences, but he didn't let that stop him from achieving his goals. He didn't change himself to fit in or make things easier. He succeeded on his own terms. That resonated with me. Sadly, I don't have Vulcan intelligence or a handy-dandy nerve pinch. I can do the eyebrow, though! I practiced for a long time. :) And, oh, how I loved Lieutenant Uhura! Here was this tough, smart, and entirely competent woman on the bridge of a starship. Science fiction and television didn't have a lot of female characters like that. She was a valued member of the crew and the ship's leadership. That was so cool! It irritated me that she didn't get to do as much as she was capable of, but at least she was there and contributing. That leads to the second impact Star Trek had on me - fostering an interest in science and technology. Communicators! Transporters! Warp drive! Replicators! Wow, it was all very exciting. The ship's computer could talk! The Enterprise could travel between stars in the time it would take us to go visit our grandparents. Doctors could see what was wrong without invasive exams or tests. It really made technology interesting and exciting - no longer an abstract and maybe dry topic. That played a large part in my decision to major in computer science. When I went to college, most of my computer science classes had one woman: me. Most of my classmates were great, but some were awful - excluding me from project teams, trying to grope me, belittling my intelligence. It was frustrating and isolating, but I kept going. There was always this thought in the back of my mind that Uhura would never give up, that Spock would never give up, and that they found a place where they were appreciated for being themselves. The key was to just keep going. I graduated and went into the workforce where I have almost always been appreciated for, you guessed it, being myself. I found a career that I enjoy and where my contributions are appreciated. I would never have gone down this path without watching the crew of the Starship Enterprise boldly go where no man - or woman! - has gone before.
I watched the series on TV as a boy aged 9-11 years in 1966-69 and was influenced to read other science fiction and science facts about the Cosmos. In the mid-1970s in college at WVU I sat in dormitory TV rooms with dozens of others to enjoy re-watching those classic episodes while viewers poked fun at the series or offered humorous or serious critiques of it. I was inspired by the series to write my first published work, "A Star Trek Chronology" and a sequel to that work in a Signet paperback series called 'The Best of Trek,' in editions six and ten. In 1996 my wife and I won an all-expense paid trip to Hollywood to attend "The 30th Anniversary Star Trek Gala" thanks to a TV Guide contest, where I met and obtained autographs of many of the actors in the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Deep Space 9 and Voyager as well as meeting Apollo moon astronaut Buzz Aldrin. In 2016 I published a blog celebrating "Star Trek Plus 50 Years." I like to misquote, with tongue-in-cheek, the Saturday Night Live comic TV series Weekend Update sports correspondent and former baseball player Chico Escuela played by comedian Garrett Morris, by stating that "Star Trek's bin bery bery good to me." It most definitely has. Live Long and Prosper...and Scotty...Beam Me Up! By Jeffrey W. Mason, Wheeling West Virginia-born, current Washington, DC area resident in 2018.
when gene Roddenberry one man idea came to live how the earth an the planets out-there in space god give him a wonderful imagination for him to entertain millions of human old an young from there to now even in this 21th era people can fly on airplanes, hot air balloon, but still people can not live in space planets or visiting by aliens like TV and news casting saying any way it a good imagination god give to people entertain only god it the creator of earth , space and other planets but without any proof of exiting live on them
I remember when I first saw this show i was blown away... The thought space and time travel was very appealing and I was amazed at all of the different races that were aboard the USS Enterprise, and even more thrilled at all of the alien forms they encountered on their various journeys.
