Back when I was in high school, you would find me in the back of the class or in the drama club. I’ve always been the shy one (still am), but when I stepped into an acting role, I was a new person. I would plop out of being an introvert and embrace the character I was given. I enjoyed being someone else and in my sophomore year I discovered a way to do this without being in a play. That year I discovered cosplay, the act of dressing up as your favorite character and pretending to be them. I loved that I could be W.D. Gaster from Undertale, Springtrap from Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 and a variety of others.
Several years later I have made cosplay one of my hobbies. At every convention I attend, I have to be dressed up. I just find it too fun! Now here in 2023, I’m bringing my hobby back to where it was founded: my high school.
On March 3, I had the pleasure of returning to my Intro to the Theatre class taught by Ms. Gesteland. Ms. G and I went way back, and she thought it was fun that I wanted to do a presentation on cosplay for the class. I made a presentation and dressed in costume too (it enhances the experience, you know)!
In my talk, I went into how cosplay can be simple to get into, the different types of cosplay, events I attend, what you can do in cosplay and where you can find supplies. To add effect, I put pictures of my own cosplays that I have made in the past ranging from a closet cosplay of Vanny to my homemade Mother Miranda. After my slideshow, the class and I engaged in an activity where we picked a character and interacted with one another as that person.
Overall, the experience went well. It went so well that I’m actually going back in April for another presentation! I was so happy that the students enjoyed it, some even stating how much fun they had after class. I had a lovely time connecting with students on a topic I love and giving back to the place that inspired me to start the hobby in the first place.