Wizard101 Helping through Rough Times

During the holidays, we’re running a contest through our “12 Days of the Spiral“.  The question is – what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year?  Today we have our fourth winner!  Read how Wizard101 helped this family through a tough time.

When most people think about the word family, the ideas of parents and siblings come to mind. Sometimes grandparents may be included or maybe a distant cousin. In my life, my family consists of not only my nuclear family but my extended family as well. Growing up a predominantly Hispanic household, it was never unusual to have aunts/uncles and 25 cousins around for every family function. I wouldn’t change anything about my family. It may be loud and crowded at times but I love them dearly. But like anything in life, time changes things. Some of my family moved to a different cities, some have gone to college and some are no longer with us in body but are in spirit.

When I stumbled across Wizard 101, my family had just suffered a terrible setback. We lost both my grandparents on my mother’s side to cirrhosis in less than a year. We were all brokenhearted and I decided to leave college to help my parents. Needless to say it was a hard year for all of us. I spent hours poured out on my computer, trying to forget the pain and heartache that I was feeling from losing two significant people in my life.  Wizard 101 acted as an outlet for me to live in another world and allowed me to escape my real one. Well time moved on and my family began to heal but I continued to play the game.

My younger cousin Jared however was not adjusting well without my grandparents. He had problems in school, trouble concentrating, and reading difficulties. I began to tutor him in reading after school. It went nowhere. He wasn’t interested in any part of reading. He needed something to grab his attention. That is when I decided to make him a Wizard 101 account. He was amazed by the game and couldn’t wait to play. I set some ground rules though. He could play as long as he read his quests out loud to me.  After all, he couldn’t do much without knowing what to do or get in the game without reading. Before long, Jared ended up progressing to a whole new reading level in class, all with the help from Wizard 101.  His teacher and my aunt were absolutely floored when they saw his immediate improvement and Jared now actually enjoys reading.  That is when my family began to take an interest in the game as well. I’d show my cousins all the new spells I attained, new worlds and soon my cousins and siblings began to play.

As I stated earlier, my family is close still but we are further apart. Wizard 101 has allowed us to stay close and catch up while still having a great time playing.  To most, Wizard 101 might just be a game. To my family, it healed us from terrible loss. It helped my younger cousin Jared read and catch up with the rest of his peers. It has brought us closer even if we are far apart. I’m able to stay in contact with cousins from all parts of the USA and my siblings away at college. This year, Wizard 101 has been nothing short of a blessing to my family and I. I can’t imagine this year without the game. It has given us so much joy, relief and happiness over these past couple of months and years and we are so grateful that it is still going strong. Thank you KingsIsle for making our family grow and keeping us connected.

Samantha RubyDreamer