In honor of "High School Musical"’s 10-year anniversary on Jan. 20, I believe it is time to reminiscence on the life lessons this beauty of a movie brought us.
Don't be afraid to be who you are.
If there is anything that we can learn from Troy finding his voice and standing up to his dad aka Coach Bolton is that we cannot live our life in fear of what others might think. Do what makes you happy and the rest will follow. Do not wait for acceptance from other people to try something new because the only acceptance you need is from yourself.
Be passionate.
Being passionate is a lesson we all learned from Miss Sharpay Evans! No one can deny her love of the performing arts. As much as she schemes, she works nonstop for every performance she does and gives it her all. The desire she has to be the best is admirable. In life, we should always have passion in what we do. Find a job that gets you up in the morning, find a hobby that you cannot wait to learn. Live life with a drive to do and be better.
Work hard.
This is a subtle lesson, but it's a lesson in all because from the Wildcats basketball team working hard to win the championship, to the Scholastic Decathlon club studying and Sharpay working on the callbacks everyone is working hard. Each character is always on the move doing something they want to achieve. Nothing easy will ever make you feel as satisfied as when you work to get to the top.
Get out of your comfort zone.
That club you've been meaning to join but you are too scared to? That boy in your Macroeconomics class you've been wanting to talk to? Do not be afraid of letting yourself try new things. Take risks that will help you explore who you are. We are all capable of so much, but we will never know if we do not push ourselves. After all, who would of thought the brainiac could star in a musical and get the captain of the basketball team? #goals
When a challenge presents themselves do not give up.
We all thought it was over when Sharpay convinced Ms. Darbus to change the date of the callbacks to the same day and time as the basketball game and the decathlon. But when the group of wildcats found out, they didn't call it a day. They got together to make it work. Challenges are not our enemies, and they are not as scary as they appear. They are there to make us stronger, to make us wiser. We learn from our experiences good and bad. We learn from not having it easy, and finding a solution to a life problem.
You're never alone.
HSM ends with a song that has become the anthem for friendships all over the world. 'We’re all in this together' has taught us that in life we need a support system to lift us up and keep us going. Life is too hard to go at it alone and you shouldn't have to. Make friends that are loyal, fun, and want the best for you.
If they happen to join you in singing and dancing, that is just a plus.
