On July 15, 2016, Netflix bestowed a wonderful gift upon humanity. Stranger Things was released. Since its release, the show has become increasingly popular after a first season with only eight episodes (we want more!). Though those eight episodes may have been the best eight hours of summer, there is so much more value to Stranger Things other than an entertaining plot. People of all ages can learn a great deal from the characters of Stranger Things. Here are just a few lessons to be learned from Stranger Things that pertain specifically to the lives of students everywhere.

1. Don't travel alone.

At the beginning of episode one, we see Will Byers coming home from a night of playing dungeons and dragons with friends. A friend bikes half of the way with him, but then parts to go to his own house. The children and adults alike in this situation thought nothing of Will going home by himself because "nothing bad ever happens in Hawkins, Indiana." I would consider opening a portal into another dimension and releasing faceless monsters pretty bad, but that's just my opinion. Anyway, don't end up like Will. No matter what your age, you CAN BE ABDUCTED. Even if you think you'll be safe going somewhere by yourself, especially at night, think again. Travel with a group of friends, or find a trusted adult to go with you wherever you're going. Do not give some sick person the opportunity to harm you in any way. Just stay safe.

2. Answering the phone is scary, but necessary.

Answering the phone is kind of the worst. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I don't like the whole experience of talking on the phone in general. Whenever the phone rings, my heart rate goes through the roof. Who will be on the other end? What will they have to say? What will that person's mood be? The whole situation is quite nerve wracking. However, no one could be more frightened of the phone than Joyce Byers. While trying to communicate with her son, she hears the phone ring. In a panic, she answers it. She can hear her son breathing on the other end, which is interrupted by strange noises. Immediately after hearing the strange noises, the phone literally shocks her with electrical pulses. This happens a few times. At this point, Joyce is a nervous wreck, unsure if her son is dead or alive, but knows that he is trying to communicate with her. Though the phone zaps her, she must keep answering it. Her son clearly needs her help because he keeps calling. The anxiety Joyce must have felt when hearing the phone ring is a magnified version of what many people, especially young adults, may feel. Despite this anxiety, we must answer the phone. The person on the other line most likely needs help, and is feeling anxious as well.

3. Don't abandon your friends.

I would have worded this one as stand by your friends, but that did not work out too well for Barb. Don't be the person who abandons your friend so that you can fool around with some guy. However, if you are "the Barb" in this situation, and your friend abandoned you, there is no shame in doing the same. Don't feel obligated to stick around and be the third wheel.

4. Don't judge a book by its cover.

At the beginning of season one, we meet Nancy and Steve. I'm pretty sure as soon as we met them, most people were probably thinking, "ugh, not another stereotypical high school teen couple." Nancy and Steve come off as really overused character types at first. Nancy is the white, suburban, good girl who gets good grades and is an annoying, mean teenage sister to her younger brother. Steve is the bad boy who hangs out with a posse, and convinces the good girl to be bad with him. We've seen these characters a million times ("Grease" and "The Breakfast Club", anyone?) We see a lot of complexities with these two characters later in the season, though. We find out that both characters are nothing like they appear the surface and become independent of society's stereotypes.

5. Be true to yourself.

One can argue that at the beginning of the season, Steve and Nancy were trying to comply with the stereotypes society had for them as teenagers in their individual situations. Both characters did things they probably would not have done without pressure from others. Steve breaks Jonathan's camera, allows his "friends" to deface the movie theatre with slanders about Nancy, and is just a huge jerk in general. Nancy follows what others are doing at the party instead of standing up for herself. She feels obligated to drink the beer, be careless, and have relations with Steve because that's what a good girl dating a bad boy is supposed to do, right? A lot of times we find ourselves falling into the habit of complying with stereotypes others have constructed for us. When you realize you've done this, the best thing you can do is move forward. Make things right. Only then can you be true to yourself.

6. Seeing isn't believing.

As soon as Will Byer's "body" was found in the river, everyone assumed he was dead. Everyone had seen the body, and from the looks of it, Will Byers was undeniably dead. However, Will's mother would not believe it. She refused to believe that body she saw was her son's. When Hopper when to investigate the body, feeling that something may be suspicious about it, he cut the body open only to find that it was not a body at all, but a dummy made to resemble Will. If Joyce Byers would have believed the evidence of her own eyes, the season might have ended early and the case of Will Byers would have been considered solved. Seeing something in a newspaper or in real life does not mean that you have to believe it or understand it. False images, deception, and misperception may get in the way of the truth when making use of your senses.

7. Be honest.

This may seem like something everyone should know, but it is often the most difficult to do. We often lie because we trying to protect something or someone. We see a great deal of lying happening in Stranger Things. In Eleven's case, she was trying to protect her friends from the "bad men" by changing the directions on their compasses. Though at the time Eleven thought she was protecting her friends, she realizes later that deceiving her friends was wrong. It's important to keep in mind that all forms of lying are wrong. It is so easy to become consumed by a single lie. Lying just once can result in a snowball effect, every lie becoming larger and more intricate than the last. It's especially wrong to lie to people you care about, like the characters in Stranger Things do. It's important to stay away from lying at all costs. Just be honest.

8. Being a teacher is a full time job.

Many people have the misconception that teachers have evenings and summers off. This could not be further from the truth. A dedicated teacher is always working. We catch a glimpse into the life of a teacher when Dustin calls Mr. Clarke to ask him how to make a sensory deprivation tank. Though Mr. Clarke is in the middle of a date, he explains to Dustin how to go about creating the tank. Likewise, a good teachers go out of their way to help their students. They spend countless hours planning for instruction, grading papers, helping students after class. Students may often take their teachers for granted, so it's important to keep in mind what good teachers sacrifice for their students.

9. Stick together.

Throughout this show, we see turmoil because of people not sticking together. Nancy ends up in an alternate dimension because she strays from Jonathan. Mike nearly ends up falling off the side of a cliff to his death because Eleven leaves the group of boys to fend for themselves. Lucas nearly ends up being caught by the "bad men" because he decides to break away from the group to investigate on his own. When you begin working with a group, stick with them until the end. Your group needs you in order to function properly. Don't let your group members down.

10. People change.

Though it does not happen every day, people are capable of changing. They will always be the same in some ways, but may grow stronger or change their minds about something, which can change the way they behave. We definitely see Nancy become stronger and change her behavior in the show. Her experiences with Jonathan and the demagorgens make her more openminded and courageous than she was previously. Don't be surprised if you or someone you know changes. Whenever one gains new experiences, there is a possibility that those experiences may lead to changes in the person. Expect change as a part of growing up; as a part of life.

11. Sometimes you need to ask questions, though you don't want to know the answers.

Chief Hopper faces many dilemmas when trying to solve the case of the missing Will Byers. Hopper is constantly forced to ask questions for which he does not want to know the answers. He must leave his carefree life as a small town cop, and conduct an investigation of epic proportions. He needs to learn a great deal about government activities that beforehand would not have concerned him. Likewise, as a student, you must constantly seek answers. Not just how to solve a long, boring math problem, but to seek the truth about the world, even though you may be content in ignorance. Knowledge is power, as they say.

12. Be open-minded to new possibilities.

Joyce Byers had to be extremely open minded in her situation. Her son was missing, and she had no idea how or why. When strange things began to happen, Joyce did not dismiss them as being impossible. She took the events that seemed to occur for what they were worth and used them to help find her son. Similarly, we should always stay open minded to things we did not think were possible beforehand. People used to think it was a fact that the earth was flat and that the earth was the center of the solar system. Don't be surprised if tomorrow someone claims that the earth is more cube shaped and that a bigger star is actually the center of the solar system. There is nothing wrong with being skeptical, but one should always consider new, unexplored possibilities before coming to a conclusion.

13. Teamwork is only way to accomplish a difficult goal.

Teamwork is a huge theme in Stranger Things. The only way Will Byers can be saved is by all of the groups in the show working together. Each group has special knowledge of the strange events to bring to the table. The teenagers, Nancy and Jonathan, have knowledge of the demagorgens, the children, Eleven, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, have the knowledge of the alternate dimension, and the adults, Hopper and Joyce, have the knowledge of the government conspiracy. Will cannot be found without all of this knowledge, so the groups must join together and share their findings. In real life, this is also the case. Every individual has unique knowledge and experience to offer. In order to achieve a difficult goal or perform a challenging task, it is important to have many different perspectives and knowledge sets. Without these, you will only be looking at the challenge from one angle, and will not be able to achieve as much as you had hoped. Collaboration can often save the day.