Every adult that I know told me that college is a time to find yourself. Many college students join clubs, become involved in Greek life, take on a part-time job, and meet new people who could become your lifelong friends. Each of these components can help you find what you enjoy, what you don't enjoy, and what you just outright hate. My freshman year, I tried focusing on making friends. Moving two and a half hours away from everyone I knew, I had no choice but to do so. When I was a sophomore in 2016, I began to join more clubs, to branch out and find my interests and new people. It was here that a friend from high school contacted me about an inquiry. Fal-Con.
She quickly told me about this organization and I was hooked on the idea of joining the directorial team. Within the next week, I became the Volunteer Director for Fal-Con. Fal-Con was a 2-day anime/gaming convention located in the little college town of Montevallo, Alabama. It was first held in 2014 at the high school and by 2016, it moved on to the campus. It was completely run by fans for fans. No one running the convention was paid for their time there, but we loved every minute of it. This project became our child, something we would fight for the best we could. And we did.
The six of us put hours of sweat and tears into the convention. Since we all lived in different areas of Alabama we had weekly Skype meetings to discuss what we wished to do for the convention and bring forth for that year. Many of us even worked on convention details during our jobs or classes. There were days in my classes where I was sending emails to volunteers, making the schedule, organizing spreadsheets all while trying to take notes in class. It became stressful, but the outcome, in the end, was worth it.
The week of the convention, we were stressed. We had to figure out who was going to pick up the guests from the airport, who can get the registration table set up, and attempted to create a template for the dealer's room and artist alley. Everyone was at their day's end, but we knew we wanted to put on the best show we possibly could.
Then comes the day of the convention.
Volunteers were running around wildly trying to remember what they learned during meetings throughout the year, attendees dressed in graphic tees and elaborate cosplays were walking around, seeing what there is to do, guests just hoping they get mauled by fans. Then there was us, the directors.
When we were trying to handle a situation, you could probably find us huddled in a corner half-asleep or in my case, downing as many Starbuck's Doubleshots that are humanly possible. However, even during those times, we could hear attendees laughing and having a good time. I know the last day while we were cleaning up, I passed out on one of the couches in the hallway. To some, it may seem like an easy job running something like this, but six main people controlling a small area of 500+ people can be overwhelming.
Even though Fal-Con has sadly come to an end this year, I will never forget what I learned while on the team for two years. I learned I can become a leader and work in a team to create something amazing in the community. I built a family that I will never forget. Many of us have moved onto other roles in the convention world. Some took on other staff roles, while others are just enjoying there new found freedom at other conventions. For myself, I have moved on to working on an entertainment media team called Shout Out World Media.
Even with us moving on to new adventures, the six of us created a bond that will most likely be unbroken. We are still planning small meet-ups with each other and still communicate reguarly. The picture at the beginning of this article was just the first of many more to come.
So there may be some truth behind meeting your lifelong friends in college, though you might just have to find them in an unexpected place.
