In English class my senior year, we read a book called The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. In this book, there was a chapter called ‘Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams’, and Pausch talked about all of his childhood fantasies and how he achieved them. I, of course, was the only one in the classroom absolutely fangirling about how one Pausch’s childhood dreams was to be Captain Kirk, and how he met William Shatner and got to talk with him about his work.
In reading all of Pausch’s childhood wish fulfillment, I got to thinking- what were my childhood dreams? Going to space was the obvious one, but that seemed like a very high goal to start with. So I kept picking my brain for things to do when I finally thought of one- Wizard101. In case you aren’t aware, WIzard101 is a video game released in 2008 where you play as a student transported into the wondrous world of magic and becoming a world-renowned wizard. I remembered playing the game loads when I was younger, but always being hit with a wall known as membership fees. See, in this game, you had to have a membership to get past a certain point in the story. And I had never had the guts to ask my parents for a membership, so I just played the tutorial over and over again.
But finally, almost a decade later, I re-downloaded the game with one goal in mind- Beat Malistaire Drake, the final boss of the main story. So I opened the game, choosing to be a fire wizard, and this time, I skipped the tutorial. So, one would assume I would breeze through this children’s game and beat the boss with ease, right? Well, not exactly. The game still proved to be somewhat of a challenge for me, but none more challenging than a pyromancer mini-boss I had to fight along the way. Without the chance to get help from other players like in many other bosses in the game, I worked for two whole weeks, fighting the boss over and over again. But, my character’s spells just weren’t strong enough. So, I took the time, leveled up my character, and sent the mini-boss packing.
But after around 3 months of playing casually, I was finally at the boss fight. I enlisted the help of my eldest brother, who still had access to his old account, and I finally stood face to face (well, my character did, anyways) with Malistaire Drake. But due to all the work I had to do to defeat the mini-boss, I was prepared. I casted Dragons, meteor showers, HellHounds, and finally, a Phoenix. I watched the fiery, pixelated wings charge at Malistaire, and finally saw his health bar disappear. I had done it. I had defeated Malistaire Drake after years of playing the tutorial.
But what does beating a boss in a video game have to do with mental health? Well, in the fast-paced setting of the modern world, we often forget to consider our inner child; The little voice inside ourselves who still stands in awe of the world around us, wide-eyed and curious. In doing something I considered easy, like beating a video game, my inner child finally got to experience the wonder of the storytelling, plot, and gameplay she could only dream about. And, yes, maybe I did jump around my room squealing as the boss gave a final monologue- but that’s because I finally let my inner child out to play, and seeing the world through those eyes provided me a different perspective on a lot of things, not just video games. It’s the moments where we are able to step outside of our current situation where we truly learn the most, and although I found that learning opportunity in an unlikely place, I’m gratified I was able to just enjoy the moment of looking at the screen, watching the credits roll.
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