Wildcat of the Week: Kati Gribble

From cosplaying to volunteering, Kati Gribble finds her passion

Gribble poses as Elsa in the snow on Jan. 12, 2019.

Wildcat Photo

Gribble poses as Elsa in the snow on Jan. 12, 2019.

During the school day, senior Kati Gribble is busy with multiple AP courses and school activities such as band and drama. However, during her free time, Gribble stays just as busy by cosplaying characters and volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House.  

Gribble started cosplaying after she attended her first Comic-Con at age 10. It was there, at Planet Comic-Con in Kansas City, that she realized she wanted to cosplay.  

“I would meet people who were dressed as my favorite characters and it would make me really happy,” Gribble said.

From then on, Gribble has cosplayed over 20 different characters, many of which come from her favorite anime shows.

Gribble enjoys cosplaying the “more obscure characters” from her favorite shows even if few people recognize the character.

Cosplay is also an activity that can be performed with another person.

“[When cosplaying with another person] you have that person to kind of be the character with. It’s nice because you get to become closer to people,” Gribble said.

Gribble recently collaborated with sophomore Grey Crist on an Elsa and Anna cosplay from the Disney movie Frozen.

“We spent multiple full days working on the cosplay with multiple hot glue gun burns on our fingers and a lot of sewing,” Gribble said.

In addition to cosplaying, Gribble volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House, RMH, every Thursday. She volunteers as both a front desk worker and a house warmer.

According to Gribble, house warmers are sometimes “a shoulder to cry on” as well as people who help with basic household chores such as doing the laundry, water the plants, take the dogs for a walk and help with making food.

Front desk workers welcome families and check them in and out of the RMH.

From the very beginning, Gribble fell in love with the RMH. The families and the goal of the program inspired her.

“It’s [RMH] has found me a love for children and I’ve realized that when I go to pharmacy school I want to work with children,” Gribble said.

Gribble plans to attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City and major in pharmaceuticals. There she looks forward to furthering her passion of caring for others and hopes to continue to cosplay.