Reverse roles in two different clubs
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 3:10PM By Timothy Cuoco
Every Thursday night, from all over Winthrop University’s campus, a group of students combine for one thing in common: a love for all things anime and manga.
Anime is the film aspect of Japanese animation while manga is the comic book form.
The group is run by a president, Brittany Lawrence, and a Vice President, Mary Kristen Martore. These two students switch opposite roles in their other student run Catchafire Ministries. The official name of their club is “The League of Extraordinary Characters,” and they meet in the DiGiorgio Center in room 221 from 8:30 to around 10 p.m.
The group is up to around 33 members so far on their e-mail list. They have had their third meeting since Sept. 22, when they first started.
They kicked off last week’s meeting with discussions of upcoming events such as conventions, festivals and relatable themed stores. Some upcoming conventions include DragonCon, MomoCon and Anime-weekend Atlanta, amongst others. There are also groups trip planned to see The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers.
A PowerPoint running in the background gave information on the character of the week, Alex Louis Armstrong, and the Asian Word of the Day, which was brother. The word was then translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Every week a different film, whether popular or lesser-known, is viewed with a laid back atmosphere. They also plan on showing Marvel and DC comic based movies and television shows.
This past Thursday, Full Metal Alchemist was shown. The meetings are a way of getting to know other like-interest people.
Students can also show the class their drawings and fan fiction and ask questions that others might have the answers to.
“We want this club to be a fun learning experience for all attendees,” Lawrence said.
Meanwhile, the students juggle the anime club with Catchafire Ministries. The name “Catchafire” comes from the idea of being on fire for Jesus.
Martore said she was listening to her music while thinking about the name for the club when she came across Toby Mac’s tune “Catchafire.” Since the ministry’s theme was about being on fire for Jesus, the name fit, they said.
This group meets on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. in Owens 101. This ministry is the first fully student run campus ministry. Catchafire has a total of 16 members so far.
A meeting based on discussion, any member can offer up a topic for discussion and provide their thoughts. Workshops are also incorporated so students can practice and discover everyone’s talents and passions so as to learn to use them in worship. These meetings can be used as an outlet to express, verbally or through other means, member’s desires and questions about God.
Upcoming events include the Harvest Fest Conference, Activating Your Destiny Conference, the talent showcase and Volcanoes in the Kitchen concert.
