I might as well admit at this point that I was a 12 year old girl when I
first became a Star Trek fan.

I had never read any Sci-fi. I knew nothing about Sci-fi before Star Trek.

This (IMHO) was not my fault. No Sci-fi was required reading in my
public school.

I was never exposed to Sci-fi as official reading material until I got
to high school, and that is only (probably, IMHO) because of the
cultural influence of Star Trek.

I am a Trekkie in every sense of the word. SO SUE ME. :)