Have you ever walked into a room full of people and felt totally alone? Well, every time I go to an STCCG tournament, that’s how I feel. This is because I am one of very few female gamers. And if you have ever been to a Star Trek tournament, you’ll know what I am talking about. There aren’t a whole lot of us out there.

So how did I even get into this very male dominated world of gaming? Well, it started my junior year of high school when I joined the role-playing game of my school, full of all guys. They were very welcoming and very accepting of me, which was really nice of them. They didn’t make feel like I was any different than they were; they made me feel like an equal.

And so I began my journey into the world of gaming. Shortly after that, my boyfriend brought me to a Star Trek tournament. It was quite an interesting experience to say the least. I never had really liked to watch the show, so I was kind of in the dark about the whole thing. But I eventually got the hang of it… But then there was this one guy that while we were playing our game, I killed off half of his crew. Well, he didn’t take that too well and he gave me a really hard time about it. He made a bunch of really lewd comments. I almost dropped out of the tournament because it really upset me.

I left the room and walked out of the building to the car crying. My loving and wonderful boyfriend walked out there and reassured me that everything would be okay, so I went back into the building. The tournament director also assured me that if anything else was said, that this particular person would get kicked out of the tournament.

The next tournament that I went to was a lot better, to say the least. When I went to the regional tournament, I had a hard time with some of the guys, but other than that, it was really fun. Now that I have been playing for over 2 years, I get more and more respect with each tournament I go to. Yeah, it gets frustrating that there isn’t another female there to talk to and I still get made fun of a little, but it’s okay, I’m tough.

The past two years have definitely been a learning experience for me. I have learned how to play a great game, how to use strategy, and above all, how to tolerate ignorance. I think that DecipherCon would’ve been a learning experience, but unfortunately, it was cancelled. Oh well, there’s always next year.