The Origin of T'Leo

For those of you who might have wondered why I sign my e-mail as T'Leo, here's the full and complete story...

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, for the reason that I get to dress up in costume. I always make my costume myself, and I would prefer to have a 'character' instead of a generic stereotype or the like. I also never repeat a costume from year to year (unless by specific request - and even then, only once).

Anyway, my junior year in high school, I decided to be a Vulcan, and my story would be that I was Spock's sister, T'Leo (traditional Vulcan female names begin with T', and I happen to be a Leo), so I still had the same half-human, half-Vulcan struggle, and therefore would overcompensate to complete unemotionalism, just like Spock. I purchased some apple-green monster ears and put makeup on them to match my skin tone. I used makeup to slant my eyebrows to the correct angle, I sprayed my hair black, and I wore a black and gold tunic from India with black stretch pants and boots, in hopes of achieving an alien and futuristic look. More of my 'story' - I wasn't in Starfleet. I had taken after my father, Sarek, and entered the diplomatic service (so I didn't have to worry about making an official-looking uniform). It was not unusual to show up to school in costume, since it was Halloween, but it was unusual for me to stay in character the entire day. I had many fellow students as well as teachers try to make me 'crack', but no one could. My French teacher even left the classroom, put on a fake pig's nose, ran back in the room straight to my desk yelling, but all I did was raise an eyebrow at her. I had people trying to pull off my ears, but I remained stoic. I even got into debates on the nutritious value of my lunch with a friend of mine when she tried to convince me that eating a KitKat was illogical! (It was Anne Freitas, I swear, even if you don't remember, Annie!)

Well, I survived the day completely in character, but the punchline wasn't until the next fall. Now it was our senior year, and we had to concern ourselves with getting into the college of our choice. Our project in our literature/writing class was to write a unique college entrance essay that would stand out and present ourselves such that we would gain admission over someone with comparable test scores and grades. We brainstormed in small groups, and my friend came up with 'My Day as a Vulcan' for my topic. My essay was about how different people perceived me on that day: the ones who couldn't help but try to aid in my 'defeat', the ones who appreciated the effort I was making, and those who didn't care or thought I was strange because I was different. Our teacher had her roommate read all the essays, as an unbiased party, and rank them as an admissions officer would. She ranked my essay #5 (or was it #4?) out of about 50, and she wrote 'Live Long and Prosper' on the back! I did submit that essay to the University of California at Davis, and I was admitted (I probably would have gotten in anyway, since my grades and test scores were plenty high, but I like the fact that even though I was in essence writing about something in pop culture, I still got in...).

Remember that I did repeat a costume once? My first year at UCD, I had some friends from high school going to UCD also, and they requested I repeat T'Leo, so I did, but I haven't repeated the exact same costume for Halloween since. I did, however, update T'Leo for Halloween 1996. She has now risen up the ranks of Starfleet (yes, she has changed her mind, since I now have several official-looking uniforms at my disposal) to the rank of full Commander, as seen by the three full pips at her collar on her brand-new uniform in the Star Trek: First Contact style.

Unfortunately, no photographs exist for the original T'Leo, but the next best is the requested reprise at UCD.

T'Leo did appear briefly when she was a Lieutenant in Starfleet, but this was only for the sake of photographs.

In one of my artistic moods, I drew the pen and ink version(I only wish I had enough hair to do that justice!)...

...and finally, Commander T'Leo, looking the best she ever has, complete with 'real' ears (instead of those horrid apple-green monster ears from way back when) and her original hair color. It was all those years as a diplomatic attache to California, USA, Earth, that had bleached her hair for awhile, of course...

I hope this explains the mystery enough for you. Of course, you could still ask me questions if anything is unclear to you, and, if you like, you can click here to read the essay, 'My Day as a Vulcan'.

And, of course, Live Long and Prosper...