Although I didn’t grow up with Star Trek per se, Star Trek grew up with me. Interestingly enough, my father was the same age when Kirk commanded the Enterprise as I was when Picard assumed command. Both of us were interested in the Roddenbury universe at about the same age in the formative pre-teen years of our lives. Trek was something that we had in common at the same time in our lives and at the same year of age, and so it was something that helped me bond with my father evenings and weekends.
While watching Star Trek VI yesterday, I realized just how much of my beliefs and rhetoric were inspired by the Roddenbury universe. Many of my ideas, values and norms were influenced by the depictions in Star Trek. Trek addressed things that I knew well, that I would see as an adult, and that influenced me without my knowledge. It showed me how people could choose in certain circumstances and what the consequences might be, and it depicted situations that are difficult to handle and helped me think about them before I faced them as an adult. Moreover, the Roddenbury universe was one in which virtue was rewarded and in which money held very little sway (Scotty did after all somehow manage to ‘buy’ a boat even though he wasn’t paid by Starfleet).
As I grew, the crew of the Enterprise boldly grew. They faced more and bigger enemies, went further, expanded the diversity of crewmembers, captains, villains, and plots. They incorporated Shakespeare and symphony, discussed what it meant to be human, what good and evil really might mean, and explored things I never thought to explore. Sometimes that wasn’t a good thing. In any case, I left high school perhaps more prepared because I had seen things solved in ways I might not consider, and when I met the Wil Wheatons of my life, I knew it was ok to say, “Shut up, Wesley.” I grew tired of Data, found Q interesting albeit frustrating, and was only afraid of the Borg, but even there, I saw them resist anyway, and that inspired me.
By the time I was an adult, Star Trek had produced four different storylines spanning the balance of my formative life. It prepared me for the notion that I would enjoy parts of life and be glad when other parts were finished. It taught me that I could have good and lasting friends, but it also taught me that all things can come to an end. Star Trek even gave me the motivation I needed to get into shape when my metabolism stopped keeping me thin. My parents bought me the original series on DVD, and I watched them while I ran on the treadmill, because the episodes were precisely the right length. Trek literally helped me boldly go where I had never been before.
It’s hard to believe that world was so long ago. Picard became captain in 1989. Kirk’s last movie with everyone was in 1991. I have students who were not even born yet at that time. They do not know or love or understand that world like I do. Some of them think I’m odd because I do. Few of them look to the stars with the same wonder as I, and now that NASA is gutted, fewer still will dream of going to the stars. As Star Trek designed and built prototypes for products being manufactured by Apple and Google before those companies were anything, I grew in wisdom, in stature, and in vision. As Star Trek grew, I grew up, and I hope that when the call to command comes to me, I will also be able to Boldly Go.
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