Growing up in the late 1990s-early 2000s, one of my TV role models/real-life role models was the character of Buffy Summers, from the popular Sci-Fi show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those of you who have never seen it, the basic rundown of the show goes something like this: Buffy Summers is the classic "Valley Girl" cheerleader who moves from Sunny L.A. to Sunnydale, California.
Upon her transfer to her new school, she begins having vivid dreams about vampires, and upon meeting the new school "librarian" (who really turns out to be her supernaturally-informed guardian of sorts), learns that she is the chosen one, which basically means that it's up to her and only her to save the world from vampires and other demons. So, after Buffy learns what her life purpose is, she begins to form lifelong friendships with two other students. Fast forward to many different monster-infused battles, two vampires, and one human romance, a sister that shows up in season five of the series, and one apocalyptic, seriously kickass series finale, that's pretty much the show.
So, you're probably asking yourself why any of this matters, and why I just gave you a condensed-soup version of the series. Well, throughout my years of watching and subsequently re-watching the series, I've come to find that while the supernatural monsters appear to be the focal point of the show, there are important life lessons to be learned as well. Here is my list of some of the most important life lessons that this show has taught me, and I hope some of these lessons resonate with you, too.
1. Just because life might get you down, (or, in Buffy’s case, literal demons), doesn’t mean that you have to stay down.
This one was a huge life lesson that I learned from watching the series. We've all probably had things in our life that could be classified as hardships/trauma, etc. But one of the major lessons that I've learned from watching these characters deal with their hard life situations is that no matter what you're going through, you have the power to get through your hardship(s) and come out the other side.
2. You have the power to change your life.
Okay, so this one goes along with the first one, but there was a specific speech that Buffy gave in the show that directly relates to this. (If you go to YouTube and search for Buffy's Power Speech, you'll find what I'm referring to.) In this speech, Buffy comes to the realization that the power to change her world, and her life, is directly hers and hers alone. (Though, her speech is more supernaturally-themed.) However, this speech reminds us all that the power to change our own lives lies directly within us.
3. You don’t always have to have a significant other.
This one was most likely geared towards a teenager/young adult audience, but I think that this lesson from the show can apply to just about anyone, regardless of age. The speech that taught me this lesson was Buffy's Cookie Dough speech. (Again, search YouTube for the speech, and you'll find what I'm referencing.) This speech is in the very last episode of the series, but it remains poignant and honest: you don't always have to be with somebody, because maybe you're not fully the person that you're supposed to be. It's necessary to take the time you need in life to figure out and fully develop into the person that you're supposed to be. Love will come along when the world feels that the time is right; you have to become the person that you're supposed to be.
4. Great friends can help you through anything.
Most of this list/entire article has been focused directly on the character of Buffy Summers, but her friends play a big part in the overall development of the series, too. Her best friend, Willow, is a powerful and quirky witch who always seems to keep a level head when it comes to solving problems. (Except for that one time where she got caught up in dark magic and nearly destroyed everything and everyone she loved, but hey, sometimes life happens.) Regardless of Willow's slipup, she's always been one of the people by Buffy's side that truly has her best interest at heart. Buffy's best guy friend, Xander, is often times the comic relief of the Scooby Gang, as the main characters are often lovingly referred to, but Willow and Buffy wouldn't have emotionally survived all that they had if Xander hadn't been there to be the metaphorical "shoulder to lean on." Even if you don't have your own Willow or Xander, this show has come to help me realize that great friends in life really do matter, and that having great friends that you can turn to really help you to get through life's toughest moments.
5. Always, always, get back up and continue fighting.
So, this one kind of goes back full circle to the first one, but I think this message bears repeating. *Spoiler alert coming up in the next sentence.* In the series finale, Buffy decides to directly face the biggest demon that she's ever faced. With her friends, and several other characters, she wages a war against the very force that has tried (and oftentimes succeeded), to beat her down. The most powerful scene in the whole episode is when she is badly wounded, but chooses to get up and fight back with everything that she has. No matter how many times I have seen that scene, I still get teary- eyed watching it. The amount of raw strength that this character displayed in that singular moment has shown me that no matter what I'm facing in life, I can always get back up and give it one last go of all that I've got inside of me. Buffy Summers taught me that I should never give up; you shouldn't ever give up when life gets hard, either.
That's my list of lessons I've learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I hope these lessons stay with you, just as they've stayed with me.
