Ahem. Wait, is this thing on?

Right.

Congratulations – all of you. You’ve done what many don’t even attempt to do. You’ve traveled to undead infested streets and uncovered much more than you bargained for. You’ve saved the entire spiral … more than once. But most importantly, you’ve survived Cyrus Drake’s Mythic Minions 101 class. That my friends, THAT is the true struggle.

Ravenwood is pretty special. No, think about it. Students come from all walks of life and yet, this place brings us all together. It doesn’t matter what you look like, which world you came from, or how you got here. Once you’re here, it’s home. Sure, the buildings are quickly aging and the sidewalks could use a new paving, but the structures aren’t what make Ravenwood home. It’s the people – and the memories made with those people.

You see, there’s this singed corner on Professor Falmea’s desk. To many people who pass through the fire classroom these days, it’s just a singed desk. To me, it’s a reminder of my days here. It was near the end of my freshmen year when I decided to take a fire class as an elective. Our first assignment was to successfully summon a Firecat. I did it, but I also had some of Professor Drake’s laundry in my bag that day. Let’s just say that the Firecat did NOT like the smell of the detergent I used. The creature went crazy! He climbed all over the desks and my fellow students laughed uncontrollably. Professor Falmea was understandably concerned and tried to get it under control. She needed some aid from a couple of students, but my rogue Firecat eventually calmed down. Well, sort of. His little adventure around the classroom caused dust to spread throughout the room. As a result, he let out a big sneeze which singed that corner of Professor Falmea’s desk. It’s funny how little things like that can bring back so much joy.

As wizards and sworn protectors of the spiral, we have a hard life ahead of us. There’s evil everywhere, and sometimes that means putting our lives on the line. I’ve been lucky enough to come out unscathed … but I always remember the ones we’ve lost. I was directly involved in the tragedy of Azteca and that’s something that will always be with me. Unfortunately, we won’t always win. There’s going to be bumps along the way and there’s going to be moments that you want to block out. You can’t change the past though. Well, unless you’re The Professor and have a magical telephone booth at your disposal. I’ve actually been in it believe it or not. It’s much bigger than it looks. Anyway …

Now you get to decide where you want to go and who you want to be. Whether you’re off to the Arcanum for further studies or jumping straight into adventuring full time, you got this. Besides, the lifelong friends you’re sitting next to right now will be the ones you can lean on when things get sticky. And it’s true, maybe some of them will eventually move on from the wizarding life and pursue other interests. Maybe you’ll eventually get tired of it yourself and want to relax. No matter where your story goes from here, just know that if … and when you want to return to Ravenwood, the doors will be open.

*Congrats to all 2018 high school graduates in the Wizard101 community!*

~Vanessa Mythdust