(Photo courtesy of Craig Hoots)For students who love science fiction, comic books or video games, ASU’s Sci-Fan club is the place to be.
Sci-Fan vice president Craig Hoots, a first-year master’s student in taxation, helped found the club in the fall of 2012.
“I was kind of just joking about trying to form the club with a few of my friends and they said ‘You know, why not? It would be a fun thing to do, ’” Hoots said. “It was interesting to run our own club, get it started, see how it grew and meet all these people who are interested in the same things as us.”
Hoots said about 20 to 30 people come to meetings each week and that they try to keep their events and movie nights on campus.
“It’s a fun, relaxing time to just not worry about school work and talk with other people who share common interests,” he said.
Hoots added that he became interested in science fiction through his father, who used to watch Battlestar Galactica.
Junior psychology major Carl Lofton has been a part of Sci-Fan since his freshman year and said he loves the club’s relaxed, welcoming atmosphere.
Lofton said he joined in hopes of finding new friends who had similar hobbies, and found Sci-Fan to be the perfect fit. He added that Sci-Fan gives people who are a little shy the chance to open up and have fun.
“I like having a place where people like me can come and be confident,” Lofton said. “They don’t have to hide what they like or be around people who don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Lofton said he first became fascinated with science fiction in grade school when he started watching Star Wars, but has picked up different interests along the way.
He said he was never really interested in reading comic books until he joined Sci-Fan and read a digital version of “All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder” in one night.
“From there I was hooked,” Lofton said.
The members also put together a themed party at the end of each semester. Past themes have ranged from Marvel Comics to DC Comics and even Pokémon. People who attend are encouraged to dress up and can participate in activities, eat food and win prizes.
“(Sci-Fan) is a place where nerdy people can just hang out and talk about stuff,” Lofton said. “Whether you’re into comic books, fantasy, science fiction or anime, you’ll find someone there to talk to about it.”
Sci-Fan has a regular meeting every other Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. and Wednesdays in between alternate between game nights and movie nights. Meetings and game nights are held at Pop Culture Paradise Comics, located at 715 S. Forest Ave. in Tempe. The locations for movie nights may vary.
For more information or to join, visit https://www.facebook.com/asuscifan or look for Sci-Fan on orgsync.com.
Reach the reporter at bridget.dowd@asu.edu or follow @bridgetbernice on Twitter.
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