Girl Meets World was a Disney spinoff of the hit show - Boy Meets World. Rowan Blanchard plays the lead role of the show, Riley Matthews. She has a close knit group of friends and navigates middle school and later high school while in the process, trying to find herself. When Disney announced they would be canceling the show, it was a cry heard around the (girl meets) world. The show taught young girls, boys, and teens like me everywhere important life lessons. We were all eagerly waiting to learn more from Mr. Matthew's chalkboard lessons; with the cancelation of the show's fourth season we dwell on what we've learned.
1. Family and blood don't go hand and hand
Thomas Aquinas said it best, "there is nothing on this Earth more to be prized than true friendship." In the show, Maya struggles with her family life after her Dad walked out on her at a young age. What she doesn't realize, is that she has a family and a home with the Matthews. Family is people bound together by love that creates an inseparable bond; nothing suggests that they need to be bound by blood. Friends are family and Girl Meets World taught me this.
2. Forgiveness isn't easy
To add to a comment I made above, Maya battles with her inner conscience to forgive her father for walking out on her. We are always taught that forgiveness is the easiest way to move on. We are taught that forgiveness is the right thing to do in all circumstances. Girl Meets World taught me that excusing people for their past is a process and doesn't look the same for everyone. It's okay if you need longer or if you aren't quite ready to let someone back into your life that left in the first place.
3. Your firsts are important - no matter how they end
Doing something for the first time holds a special special place in our heart that we will always remember. Your first kiss, first boyfriend or girlfriend, your first day of high school, your first date, and even your first time having Taco Bell (disappointing) are all prime examples. We learn from he mistakes we make the first time and from there we grow and become better. Your first relationship may have been an awkward mess like it was for Riley and Lucas, but you are stronger because of it.
Maya's Mom gave up on finding love when her husband walked out on her family. She lived her life as a single mother, and while there is nothing wrong with it she didn't open herself up to the possibility of being happy with someone again. Just because you got hurt and broken by someone does not mean you are broken to everyone else; someone once said "one day you will find someone that will hug you so tight all your broken pieces will stick back together."
5. People change people
In the third episode of season 2, Cory reveals the secret to life is that people change people. He gives them the math problem that if one person can wash car in 6 minutes, and another can do it in 8, how long will it take them to wash it together? The answer is: there's no answer. People change people. People change the way people act in circumstances as little as washing a car. Lucas, who used to live in Texas, transfers to New York after his actions at home get him expelled. Riley and Maya feel disconnected from Lucas because they feel like they don't truly know him. They do know him, and they changed him.
