Facebook exec tells students it's OK to be a geek

Chicago-area students taking part in a spring break robotics camp got a visit and pep talk from Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg.

The Facebook chief operating officer and now best-selling author told the high school and middle school students that it's OK to be a geek.

Sandberg said “the things that make you uncool in high school are the things that are good for your life.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the dozen students were showing off their robots at the Illinois Institute of Technology Thursday when Sandberg dropped by.

When 18-year-old Hannan Ouyoun said she was torn between a career in fashion or engineering, Sandberg suggested both. The executive explained that understanding how things work would give her a competitive edge in fashion.

Ouyoun called that an “an eye-opener.”