“Every little girl has a favorite princess and mine was this fierce woman named Princess Mononoke,” Elizabeth Heinn says, “I wanted to be her so bad, so I did just that at a con one year.” Elizabeth Heinn is a Senior this year and a crafty soul with a particular passion for cosplay.

Heinn asks “How often do you feel like the black sheep of a group? How often do you stay quiet because you’re a bit too shy to talk?” She addresses that this is how she feels more often than not then goes on to say “Cosplay and going to my first convention is how I broke that habit.”

Cosplay and going out in public dressed up was hard for her at first. She knew this was going to be how she would build her confidence but looked at it as a long, uphill road. However it was one she pursued nonetheless. Since then she’s only gotten more excited about the craft, and better at that.

Her first fully homemade outfit was a character from a video game, Madness Returns. When she got this Alice outfit done and finalized, she felt completely different, “everything felt right, for a few days I was something amazing which was really what got me hooked on cosplay.”

“It makes me feel cool” Heinn states. All the characters and the satisfaction of homemade props help Heinn feel like she’s got this passion, this skill she can be proud of. With that it’s a hobby that lets you have fun, let loose, and feel like a kid if you want.

Speaking of kids, Heinn can definitely say she’s made “Little E” content with what she can do now. She can be anything she wants or anything she dreamed of at least for a little while. Princess Mononoke is no longer a fairytale away but fabric between her hands. This is a story of a rewarding self discovery.

Today Heinn is definitely a skilled cosplayer with some wicked looks. She’s gone to her fair share of conventions and made her fair share of costumes and it’s only going to get better from here. Now, as Heinn says, “I don’t have to be the shy girl in the corner no one remembers.”