Cosplaying for approximately 3 years.
Originally from Connecticut, now in the Philadelphia area.

Other characters: Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Captain Jack Harkness, Captain America (First Avenger), Captain Hammer, Captain Apollo (original BSG), Captain Kirk (TOS), Captain Kirk (Reboot), Star Trek (Red Shirt), Captain Mackenzie Calhoun (Star Trek NG Era), the Eighth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor, Dr. Horrible (both white and red), Arrow, Jackson Lake (DW), Commander John Crichton, Misfits (BBC), Governor (leather jacket version), Jedi Knight, V for Vendetta, Sith Lord, the Dread Pirate Roberts

Having grown up in an era where it wasn’t cool to be a geek, I have always stuck to my guns and refused to give up on the fandoms I love. As a big fan of superheroes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Transformers, Firefly and numerous other franchises, I found at first I was hesitant to cosplay for fear of not representing the characters in a way that did them justice. However, with the encouragement of friends, I began cosplaying with some simple and easy costumes and have increased my cosplays to almost 30 different characters. While in real life I might be a computer trainer, in the fan world I have become an enthusiastic cosplayer, fan film actor and writer as well as organizer of several cosplay and fandom related events to benefit worthy charities. This is a hobby I enjoy for many reasons, but one of the best ones is all the friends I meet at cons while in costume.

For new cosplayers, just go for it and cosplay who you love. Gender, size, height, race… it doesn’t matter because cosplay is about having fun and you’re the one to have it.

I do think some cosplayers need to be more accepting of others… there are some who consider themselves elite and really need to realize that no matter how good the costume is, they are still playing a character someone else invented. Plus there are plenty of other people whose appreciation for a particular fandom is as great as their own, so concentrate on the common ground and not the differences.
Kyle Williamson
Sci Fi Geek Productions