Life lessons can come from any outlet. Whether it be your parents, teachers, friends, etc. so many life lessons are learned through others. Possibly one of the most intellectual fictional characters to ever live (through a TV!) is Lucas Scott. The Scott brothers and their friends graced our TVs for nine seasons and the life lessons learned over the course of that time will forever be in our hearts. Because, as we all know, there is only One Tree Hill, but about sixteen seriously important life lessons, listed below, to take away from one of the best shows of all time. *Kanye voice*
1. Time sneaks up us.
Nathan wasn’t a particularly deep character in the beginning. Orchestrating the team to take Lucas’ clothes while he was showering, stealing school buses and plotting to trick Haley into liking him was pretty much all there was to Nathan Scott. But as the show continued and he changed to be a better person for Haley, he became a staple in the life lessons from the show. His quote at the end, as he watches his seventeen-year-old self, is possibly the most powerful line from all nine seasons.
2. All a girl wants is for someone to want her back.
“Brooke or Peyton?” was a major question for Lucas Scott for a while. Brooke’s epic reveal of what a girl wants to Mouth is a major life lesson for those guys out there that think all girls are complicated creatures from Mars. We just want you to want us. Tell us you want us standing next to you when all of your dreams come true, and you’re golden.
3. The nerd actually can get the guy.
Haley may have hated Nathan Scott out of loyalty to her best friend, Lucas, but Nathan sure did win her over. The cutest love story will always (and forever) be Naley. It’s the classic story of the jock falling for the nerd and we all got to live out our dream of having the bad boy change for you by vicariously living through Haley James Scott.
4. You really don’t know what’s going on with people.
Any real OTH lover is still not over the school-shooting episode. Keith’s death is one that we all will mourn until the end of time. Who would have guessed Mouth’s sidekick in the first season, Jimmy Edwards, felt so left behind? You truly do not know how your actions can affect others, or what is actually going on in their minds, until it’s too late.
5. Never trust drinks from strangers.
For every high school girl, the episode where Peyton and Brooke go to their first college party and that creep slips roofies in Peyton’s drink taught us all to never take drinks that you haven’t opened yourself. (Especially from a guy with black nail polish.)
6. Be yourself.
Trying to be something you’re not, like when Anna in Season 2 tried to hide being a lesbian, never has good results. Be you. Embrace it. Follow Brooke Davis’ advice.
7. Guys and girls actually can be best friends.
Lucas and Haley laughed in the face of dating rumors. They saw each other strictly as friends and were so close they had sibling love, but never romantic love, proving that guys and girls can actually be best friends without someone catching feelings.
8. Fighting never solves anything.
Nathan almost ruined his career and destroyed his family when he got into that bar fight. How many times we have to hear about people fighting and getting into trouble before people start using their minds before their fists, the world may never know.
9. Bad things happen to good people.
It’s sad, but true. Peyton Sawyer made mistakes, sure, but she didn’t deserve to lose the guy she loved to her best friend, get stalked, have her mother die, find her birth mother and have her die, an absent father, the list can go on and on. Each character gets their poor deck of cards dealt to them at some point. And let’s not even talk about the unfair and tragic fate of Quentin “Q” Fields. *Sobs over Jamie putting the cape on his casket*
10. But from bad comes good.
Clay loved his first wife so much, he thought he’d never love again or get over her death. Insert Quinn. A girl who completely changed his outlook on love and made him believe in it again. Bad things may happen to us, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
11. People can change.
How many times did Dan Scott betray our trust with each character? Dan will always be one of the most brutal villians, but he did change in the end and made amends with a lot of people. I mean, if Karen can forgive him for killing Keith, I guess we can forgive (but never forget!) him, too.
12. Good things do happen to those who wait.
Keith Scott waited his entire life to finally have Karen love him. He is the main reason why every girl should love the nice guy, instead of going after the Dan Scotts of the world. Keith is everything to look for in a man. Period.
13. Everything is solved with a pun.
Brooke’s clothing line: “Clothes over Bros.” Peyton’s webcam show (that was actually very creepy): “Punk and Disorderly.” Peyton’s breast cancer benefit album for her birth mom: “Friends with Benefit.” And the one and only Chris Keller’s blog is called “Keller Instinct.” Life is better with terrible puns, especially in Tree Hill.
14. High school is only four years.
If there is one thing this show revolves around while the characters are in high school, it’s bullying. Between Jimmy Edwards’ story and Brooke being such a woman’s rights advocate, the show really makes girls feel empowered. And makes sure you remember that no matter how hard high school can be, it’s only four years of your life, and anything that’s happening now won’t feel like such a big deal in ten years.
15. Have fun!
Let’s face it: this show has some pretty serious story lines. But sometimes we have to remember to have some fun while we’re young. Have a boytoy auction, hang out with your friends, get a random tattoo. Because you’re only young once, so embrace it.
16. Your art matters.
It was the line that started it all. Enough said.
One Tree Hill is a show that shaped the lives of everyone that watched. If you followed the lives people lived in Tree Hill, then you completely understand the life lesssons each season brought its viewers. Make sure you have friends like Lucas had at the River Court, love unconditionally like Brooke Davis would, be the best person you can be like Nathan was, deal with pain and life the way Peyton did (just don’t run any red lights in the process), and always follow your dreams the way Haley did. There are so many stories and so many lessons learned from the characters in this show, and there really only ever will be One Tree Hill.