First of all, I'd like to wish all Americans a Happy 4th of July! I hope you have a wonderful & safe Holiday. And now.. I'd like to officially announce that today marks my official 10 years of playing Wizard101. I can't even believe 2009 was a decade ago, but you know... time flies when you're having fun! So today I'd love to talk a bit about why I joined Wizard101 and why I'm still playing the game today.
I officially joined Wizard101 on July 4th, 2009. It's crazy because I should have been outside lighting fireworks & enjoying the nice weather. However, it was raining all day so I had to stay inside. I was 15 years old at the time and decided to watch some program on Cartoon Network (I still have no idea what I was watching that day because Wizard101 took over the entire day :P). I remember watching and seeing an awesome commercial - the one above - show up. And just a disclaimer: there's a reason the run events take place on Rainbow Bridge. Watch the commercial above to see why. ;) Anyway, as soon as I saw the website on this commercial I went and signed up to join this mysterious game! I created my first wizard, Edward Wintergem, an ice wizard.
From that moment, I became addicted to the game. I made new friends (that I would often quest with) and ended up joining the Wizard101 Community in October of 2009. I didn't know there was a community for the game and only found out when Wizard101 had somewhat of an advertisement on their launcher about this podcast called "Ravenwood Radio" (which is now SpiralRadio). I remember watching their first episode. Leesha Darkheart & Stephen Spiritcaller really got me to further explore the community. I started reading a blog called "The Friendly Necromancer" by Tom Purdue and attending major events from "Diary of a Wizard". Speaking of these three sites... they're really what inspired me to start blogging in 2010 & hosting events in 2012!
Whether it's blogging or hosting events, I've come a far way in my life. Before I joined this community I had severe depression, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety. I also had recently lost two close family members - my grandmother from cancer & my aunt from a heart issue. I really didn't think life was worth living during this time. But things have changed. Sure, bad things do happen. But you have to push through because there's a lot more good than bad in our life. We have to be willing to see the good things even if it seems that there's more bad than good. I've changed so much since I joined this community. I will say that it's okay to talk to people. Playing this game & interacting with the community helped me open up to talk to counselors many years ago. I am so thankful to have moved past that time in my life and living a happy life. I would like to thank all of you & Kingsisle for making this an amazing 10 years. Now... it's time to end this post and make new memories for the next decade. ;) Until then, I made a montage of a few key moments that warmed my heart during my time here. Feel free to watch the video below! Thank you all again for reading this post. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral. I love y'all!
