Most people have the concept of a fandom wrong. Believe it or not, fangirling and fandoms are not the same thing. A fandom is a discourse community where teenagers (boys and girls) along with some (but not many) adults come together and talk about something they're passionate about. Fangirling, however, is more about the actual actions some people who are part of the fandom take. Whether it’s a TV along the lines of Vampire Diaries or How I Met Your Mother, a book series like Harry Potter, or even a sports team like the Texas Rangers, the discourse community of fandoms is something that a lot of people may not realize they're part of. I myself, am interested in things like music, and so I often find myself identified with the people who enjoy the same things I do, but I didn’t realize that sharing a passion for something can be beneficial when trying to find a group to be a part of, like One Direction. For someone who cringes at the mention of the words “Directioners,” “Swifties,” and “Beliebers,” I often find myself identified with the way the people in the those “fandoms” think. As I mentioned earlier, I have a unique passion for music that has driven me to want to become a better musician. My ethnic background has recently driven me to change my major from Spanish to music because it’s exactly what I want to do when I’m older. Being part of the discourse communities that share my love for artists like One Direction, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, and, yes I know, many more cookie-cutter/ bubblegum celebrities out there, has given me confidence because I no longer feel “lame” for liking them. My career of music will have an emphasis in music industry meaning that I will get to work with many of these celebrities by helping them record their albums and grow as musicians. This not only makes me extremely excited for the future, but it encourages me to strive forward and to further my education in order to become a well-known and certified career woman. It always starts with “I think (insert band member here) is kind of cute.” For me, at least, it did. Summer of 2012, soon-to-be-junior in Highschool, I was not interested in any type of boy band to obsess over. And after taking a trip to California and hearing my best friend sing an annoying tune by a cookie cutter bubble gum band called One Direction the way there and back, I was not impressed. Having had music as part of my life for a long time, I found the song very lacking of good musical elements, and quite frankly, annoying. I had gone through a very rough time my freshman