December: Theme Change

If you have looked at my schedule for this blog, you know that my themes will change by month. This month has a theme of reflection as it is the last month of the year. I will be sharing how I have grown this year in many different ways. For starters, because of an early December opportunity I have been blessed with, I will be writing about journalism and Yama-Con 2015.

I decided at the beginning of this school year that I wanted to be a journalist. I switched my major and began my last semester in college. Since then, my favorite English teacher has mentored me through a few different opportunities. Partially because of her mentoring, I was blessed (along with my sister) to write as press for the biggest three-day anime and gaming convention in Eastern Tennessee! I am currently resting from day one of Yama (mountain)-Con 2015!

Yama-con is a family friendly convention, and it feels just like the small-town conventions in Morganton, NC! It is in the very beautiful Le Conte Center, which feels like a castle compared to Morganton-Con. I didn't think I would be able to go and enjoy such a wonderful event, but I am so very blessed!

Today we scoped out the Le Conte Center and planned our weekend (and we enjoyed some Disney Karaoke, "Iron Cosplay" and other events I will try to explain later). I get to go to "Doctor Who's Line Is It Anyway?" tomorrow! (For those of you who understand, Doctor Who is my fandom. I am so beyond excited!) We also got to see a bunch of very elaborate, very creative cosplays! People are quite talented and it is awesome to get to see how they use their talents at these conventions.

For now, I just want to explain the dealer room and the gaming (both video and board game) rooms. Both are about double the size of an average basket-ball court. Both are filled with awesome adventure opportunities! (Keep an eye out for pictures! I'll be posting those on Sunday night/ Monday morning! I forgot to bring my camera cord!) Autumn kept asking me to play "Just Dance" with her in the gaming room, but there were too many people so I didn't want to embarrass us both. That room was crazy full of about 60 computers and even more people!

**GEEK STORY ALERT**

I started watching anime and playing video games with my little sister a few years ago, just as a "sister date." I wanted to spend some more time with her but I didn't expect to be introduce to a new family ("fandom"). I enjoyed the story-lines and the artwork. It wasn't a cartoon, so I discovered. Personally, I grew quite attached to some of the characters on these shows. Kind of like I grow attached to a character in a book I am writing. Getting to go to these conventions is an opportunity to watch your favorite characters come to life. It is so much fun! I am looking forward to the next two days and I will share with you my experiences afterwards!