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Show 8 Lifestyle FORUMFORTNIGHTLY.COM Westminster students, alum join in Salt Lake City' s first ever Comic Con ries, and more camaraderie between fans. Van De Graaff is going to all three days of the event alone, but isnt worried about a lack of company. Its interesting, the air of cons, she said, You become best friends for three days, but if you dont ever see attendees again, its okay. Fisher comes from a self-proclaim- ed geeky family. Her father first introduced her to Star Trek, but she only recently became a fan. When youre young, you 1 Ut ' i i ran de Graaff and her husband, Jacob, dressed I s Pokemon Marrill and Raichu. f ' PI. HI 1C group of authors or screenwriters, and others will give hands-o- n 7 JUUTCGPE'i practice. 4 - Y With something 1 v Photos courtesy of Melody Van De Graaff Editor-in-Chi- ef Salt Lake City's first Comic Con is being hosted this year, and the city estimates attendance will exceed 45,000. Those who are familiar with Comic Con know that the event is about more than comic books. Nicole Fisher (T2), a research analyst for the Utah Autism Registry, plans to attend. Its a celebration of pop culture, she said. The event will include popular television se ries, movies, books and video games, too. Melody Van De Graaff, junior communication major, is most excited about the writing panels at Comic Con. Some panels will be question and answer sessions with a i Lizzy Donnelly m The smell of sweat hangs in the air. The dry clatter of lockers is near deafening in conjunction with the rhythmic snap of jump ropes on the mats and the dull sound of fists smacking punch- ing bags. As kickboxing class begins, a lone female figure in wraps and boxing gloves stands among the regulars. Junior Lizzy Donnelly is a public health major, justice . studies minor and an extensive traveler. Recently, shes added kickboxing at the Muay Thai Institute and Fitness Center to her varying list of hobbies. trial pass turned A ss 10-cla- into a regular gig. Donnelly said shes been going on and off for the last few months, but has been attending more consis- tently since July. I really got myself in gear, high profile as Comic Con, Im excited to see how high quality their panels are, she said. Melody Van De Graaff, dressed as Dave Strider from Homestuck, and a man dressed as Mike Jr. from Back to the Future pose in front of a Tardis at CONduit. Jessie Smith as she said. W Maggie Frazier, Donnellys roommate, friend and former RA, said she was surprised about Donnelly taking up the sport. According to her, kickboxing and Donnelly's quiet, easygoing nature just didnt seem to fit. But in the end, Frazier said it seems like a fun way to get in shape, and Donnelly is sure to stick with it if shes passionate enough. If she finds something she loves, shell run with it, Frazier said. Part of what motivates Donnelly to keep going to the class is the intensity of the program combined with the complexity 0f different moves. Increasing her fitness is also important to her. Kickboxing may seem hostile to some, but according to Donnelly, she is able to let a lot 0f her tension go when in the class. She said she would tell anyone thinking of taking up the sport that its uncomfort- - Van De Graaff has been to several cons in Utah, and seen them grow over the past few years. She believes that the growing popularity of smaller cons is what brought Comic Con to Utah. After attending the San Diego Comic Con, though, Fisher is looking forward to a smaller gathering in her hometown. She hopes that the event in Salt Lake will have less advertisement of new shows and se able and intimidating at times, but in the end, all the intensity pays off. Just keep going, she said. yourself, because its worth it in the end. Walking away from the exPush perience, Donnelly s primary goal is to get in better shape. An overall sense of control and the ability and confidence to defend herself, she said, are added benefits. Im not going to go looking for a fight, but Im prepared to defend myself, she said. Aside from sparring in the ring, Donnellys second passion is volunteer work, especially in foreign countries. Shes been to eight countries outside the U.S. due to a travel-intensicurriculum at the private school Realms of Inquiry. Her most recent trip was to South Africa for May Term. Most of her experiences are based around service learning. Donnelly said she has learned from her travels the value for ve have to pretend to be cool for a while, Fisher said. Now that shes an adult, she has no hesitations about being a science fiction fan. Fisher goes out to movies and dinner with other fans, and stays connected with them online. We used to think of communities as the people we live next to, said Fisher. Now, with technology, our communities can be people who share our interests. Neither Fisher nor Van De Graaff is going to dress up as a character, but both are excited to see the costumes others wear. Salt Lake Comic Con will be held at the Salt Palace Sept. 5-- 7. For more information on the event, visit people over physical things. Sometimes the places that have the least material luxuries have the happiest people, she said. |