As a kid I loved Halloween, more so than anyone else around me. I spent all year planning out my next costume. So when I grew up and I got “too old” for Halloween, cosplay was the obvious next step. Thankfully I was surrounded by people who supported my strange hobbies and encouraged me to stumble my way into the community. My first cosplay was in 2011 at my own wedding (Laguna and Raine from Final Fantasy 8) and it was a disaster! But I was hooked! So I kept going and failing and learning.

I had dreamed of going to conventions for years, but the money and timing were never right until 2013 when some of my friends got tired of hearing my empty dreaming and decided to push me headfirst into my very first con. So we loaded up on Friday morning and drove to Nan Desu Kan in Denver, CO with minimal preparation and high expectations. It was an eye opening weekend to say the least! I learned a lot that year and even though I ended up totally ashamed at my attempt at a Team Rocket uniform, I was excited to try again the following year. Since then I have attended Nan Desu Kan every year with my cosplay group, meeting new people that I adore and look up to each time.

In October of 2017 a friend approached me again about volunteering at the convention the following year instead of just attending and I caved. I spent the whole year helping her with her behind the scenes preparation for the con, as well as organizing my own groups costume preparations. It was tough at times; sewing the costumes for five people can really eat through your time! But as I sat around a table eating dinner with a group of people I met while volunteering on Sunday night, quietly absorbing the feeling of family and pride at having come through another successful convention I started to realize that there was more to the cosplay community that I had been missing up until this point.

I had only just begun to get my feet wet. So I started to look into how I could become more active in the community around the year until I stumbled here! Finding the Colorado Academy of Cosplay group on Facebook was the start of my next chapter. When the call went out for people to step up and offer to host monthly meetups I jumped at the chance. Since then we have held two in the Colorado Springs area and are looking forward to many more! There has even been talk of getting together for crafting nights to work on costumes and props together and share advice and expertise in a face to face setting.

Kait is also a part of a group of cosplayers called DFA Cosplay. FInd them at https://www.facebook.com/DFA.Cosplay/