You don’t always need a plan, and as Dory says in her new film, “the best things happen by chance”.

Finding Dory is one of the most anticipated movies of our generation (only possibly being beat out by the second Incredibles), and like the third Toy Story movie, it offers a message to the original viewers of its preceding film, Finding Nemo. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now, because there may be some spoilers.

In Finding Dory, our favorite blue tang is trying to find her parents, and goes on an adventure to California with Nemo and Marlin to find them after getting lost in the pipeline of a Marine Institute. As always, there’s a lot of forgetting, and many mishaps, but along the way, Nemo and Marlin get separated from Dory, and to get back to her, they begin thinking in terms of “what would Dory do?” They start to think outside the box, and instead of analyzing each situation end to end, Marlin and Nemo take action immediately without thinking, taking chances and watching them unfold as they continue their journey, until they ultimately get to where they all want to be, picking up a friend or two on the way.

Like Toy Story taught us that change is okay, and growing up is normal, Finding Dory teaches us to take chances, even if it’s not what you’re used to. It teaches us that not everything is planned, nor does it have to be. Which is a great message for all the college students that grew up watching these movies.

A lot of people leave for college, not really knowing who they are yet, or who they want to be, which is totally okay! You don’t need to know exactly what you’re going to do every second of every day. Plans are okay, but your plans don’t always need plans. If something goes wrong, just take action and go with the flow. Take a chance or two. The best adventures come from taking chances, and going somewhere unfamiliar. You may just end up learning some new things about yourself, and in turn, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be as a person.

Many college students are finally leaving home to be on their own for the first time, like Dory, who actually gets lost, but she’s still away from home. She knows some of who she is, like her name, and that she has a hard time remembering things, and that if something is hard, she should just keep swimming, and that in itself is something all people can take away from the movie. When you leave home for something as life changing as college, maybe all you really need to know is your name, one solid thing about yourself, and a motto to keep you going through the day. You can always figure out the rest while you’re on your way, and build on yourself when you make new friends (like Marlin and Nemo), who help build Dory up.