As I was writing my recap post about CONvergence, I realized something. It’s been ten years since I started attending conventions. I second-guessed myself because ten years feels like a long time ago, but it’s true. I went to CONvergence for the first time in 2013. I initially found out about CONvergence in 2012 when my friend’s mom was planning to attend. Me and my friend decided we wanted to attend the year after. The rest is history. I wanted to share a few photos along with sharing what I hope for in the future.

I remember being mesmerized by all the people in cosplay. It was so fun to walk around and take photos with other cosplayers. I talked with so many different people at my first con and cosplay in some ways acted as a way to help start a conversation without feeling the intimidation of talking to someone I didn’t know.

Besides cosplaying as Mario, I also put together a quick Lara Croft cosplay. This felt on point since the Tomb Raider game came out that year. As I was walking around CONvergence, I saw another Lara Croft cosplayer and I was really excited. Let’s be real, this cosplayer did a much better job than I did in cosplaying Lara Croft. It was a fun memory to see someone else cosplaying the exact same character but in a completely different way.

When I first started attending CONvergence, The Twin Cities Ghostbusters used to always make an appearance. They usually had a party room at CONvergence along with bringing their car out in the parking lot. I haven’t seen them at CONvergence in a while, but I hope they come back soon.

It’s funny looking at old photos. My first thought is how young I look! The other thing that I think about is where my mindset was at this time of my life. I had so much to learn whether that be about life in general or how I viewed myself. I’m grateful for all of the experiences I have had thus far and how I have grown as a person.

Looking into the future, I’m fully planning on cosplaying throughout the next ten years. I want to try colored contacts or body paint. Besides cosplay, there are a few conventions that I would like to attend including Emerald City Comic Con, New York Comic Con, and Dragon Con. Me and my husband have also begun having conversations about starting a family and I would love to bring my kids to conventions. Here’s to ten more years of cosplay and conventions!