Over winter break, I spent a good amount of my free time watching Netflix as any college student would. Before I knew it, I finished seven seasons of “Gilmore Girls” in the span of a month. I watched Lorelai and Rory’s mother-daughter relationship grow as they overcame hurdles of work, love and academics. Other than fueling my addiction for coffee through this show, I learned some very valuable life lessons which I believe can be applied to every college student.
Spoiler alerts ahead…
- You Can Still Start Over
-
Lorelai Gilmore is one of the main characters on the show, and she is known to be a very bubbly, outgoing and ambitious person. She gets pregnant at the age of 16 and decides to move out of her strict household to live an independent life with her daughter, Rory. Throughout the show, you see her build her own life from scratch. She does not want to live life the way her parents expect her to: as a proper high-class woman who attends beauty pageants and goes to an Ivy League school. Instead, she runs away from home and attends business school whilst working as a manager at an inn and taking care of her daughter. She then decides to start her own business. This taught me that it is okay to not live by the world’s expectations and that hurdles come at us when we least expect them. Starting from scratch and working hard will never hurt us.
- Focus on Yourself
-
This lesson was actually taught to me, not by the main character, but still a very significant person in the overall plot: Paris Geller. Paris is known as a dedicated and studious individual throughout the show. She meets Rory at Chilton, and they quickly become study buddies. Paris never questions herself and is always determined to do well in school. She focuses on work and does not let others intimidate her. Paris had dreams of becoming a surgeon, and she did not let anything stop her. She fulfilled her dream without getting distracted or questioning herself throughout the process. This taught me that hard work and dedication go a long way, and you can accomplish all your goals if you remain focused and committed.
- Criticism is Not the End of the World
-
Rory Gilmore had a passion for journalism when she started to intern for her boyfriend’s father’s company. She did everything she was told to and observed the senior journalists as they did their jobs. However, her boyfriend’s father told her that she was not made for journalism and that she did not have that spark that he tends to see in new journalists. She was destroyed and took it to heart. She started to doubt herself and even dropped out of school because of it. This taught me that criticism should be taken with a grain of salt because it is important to have confidence in yourself and in your work. Rory put more weight on the boss’ words than she did on her own capabilities, which is what caused her downfall. Do not let constructive criticism take over your life. Instead, learn from it and improve.
“Gilmore Girls” is a wholesome show with many twists and turns. It is light-hearted and entertaining but also has many important life lessons embedded into each episode. Every character had a different story, and it was interesting to see how they grew and adapted throughout the season. The show taught me that it is okay to face hurdles. It is okay to doubt yourself, but at the end of the day, it is very important to have confidence and to improve from your past mistakes.