I was fortunate enough to grow up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager with my father on TV. My father is a big Trek fan, and catching the weekly episode was a ritual which we rarely missed. Not letting me watch Trek was one of the worst punishments my parents would dish out when I was young. As I grew older, the two of us spent hours after each episode discussing the social commentary, the side-plots, and what was really happening within the episode. Star Trek is one of the common passions we both share, and we’ll both reference it almost as a code when we want to tease the rest of my family. It makes holiday dinners quite amusing.

While it isn’t my favorite Star Trek episode, my most memorable Star Trek experience is from Devil’s Due. We watched the episode as it aired for the first time. I was pretty young at the time, and I distinctly remember how Ardra “turning into” Fek’Ihr just terrified me. I ended up running screaming into my room and hid in my bed for the rest of the evening. We ended up missing the next few episodes as they aired because I was scared Ardra would be back. It took nearly a month for my father to convince me she was gone and wouldn’t come back.

Jon Steady
Systems Designer
Star Trek Online

Star Trek has been a fixture in my life for longer than I can remember. My father is such a Trekkie that, when he wants to underscore his devotion to my mother, he recounts that he missed airings of Star Trek (The Original Series, when first broadcast) to date my mother. The reruns were in syndication by the time I came along, and I don’t remember a time when we weren’t watching. Some of my earliest memories feature The Animated Series playing on a tiny black & white television while I ate lunch.

I joined in his fandom, and grew up with new Star Trek movies, with The Next Generation premiering while I was in high school. I have felt and continue a deep bond to the franchise.

Matt Stringer
Staff Programmer
Star Trek Online

Star Trek has always been about possibilities.

When I was young, my family would gather around for Star Trek: The Next Generation during dinner. We rarely ate in front of the television, but we’d made a special exception for this. Here was a show that captivated a 7-year old me, whose imagination ran wild.

Star Trek explored strange new worlds filled with new life and new civilizations. The crew of the Enterprise made contact with bizarre species, both foreign and fascinating to me. I watched as the Holodeck providing harrowing adventures, even bringing some of my favorite fictional characters to life. The crew explored the frontier of space as well as their own humanity. It was (and still is) a wild ride.

Take a moment to consider what Star Trek means not only for you, but for a younger you who is uninhibited to explore their imagination. It’s a really beautiful thing when you realize the possibilities are endless.

Morrigan “LaughingTrendy”
Community Manager Lizard
Star Trek Online

My mom was a big fan of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” when it first aired. I remember thinking at first that it seemed pretty hokey and slow, but I still watched it in order to spend time with my family. By the time of the fourth or fifth season, it’d become a family event – mom, dad, me and my 3 brothers all gather in the living room to watch the latest episode as it premiered. By that time, the pacing and sometimes-iffy special effects no longer registered with me, as the characters, and their many adventures, had me completely enthralled. I recall getting into debates with my older brothers about who was the best character on the series, and vehemently defending Data’s contributions to the ship. And by extension, that Androids would obviously rule over us all one day in the distant future. ;)

Jeremy Randall
Systems Designer
Star Trek Online

The life of a Temporal Agent will take you across time and space to strange frontiers and deadly battlegrounds with the Temporal Agent Pack.