Sydney Berenyi, a senior and fine arts major, is president of J.A.M; Columbia’s Japanese, Anime and Manga club. Berenyi has been cosplaying since 2015.

“Cosplay is a mismatch of costume and play,’” she said. “So it is just dressing up in costume, but there’s more of that craft aspect.”

Cosplay has helped her think about the way she looks and that it’s okay to not look like “a digital image,” Berenyi said.

Though sometimes she gets weird looks from strangers in public, often people enjoy the characters she dresses up as and she receives many more compliments.

“You’re missing out if you don’t do stuff that you wanna do,” Berenyi said. “People tend to enjoy when others are who they really are.”