My favorite show as a child was Full House, and as I’ve grown up, I continue to watch the show if it’s on television. To me, the show will never get old. And now that Fuller House has been made, I look at the show and the characters in a completely different light. I now watch the show as an adult, one who analyzes the show, one who can relate to the characters and grasp the messages they are trying to convey. As cheesy as it sounds, I can honestly say that I have grown up with this show, and there are so many things I’ve learned from the Danny Tanner pep talks… With the distant, uplifting violin tunes backing up his motivational Dad words… and jokes.

#1 Family is everything

Adult DJ Tanner is a widow with three young boys, who despite her smiles and upbeat personality, is crying for help raising her kids and juggling her job as a Veterinarian. It’s when her sister Stephanie and her best friend Kimmy decide to move in with her, to make life easier for her, just as Jesse and Joey did for Danny 30 years prior. The sacrifices Stephanie and Kimmy made prove that family is everything and that when someone you love needs you, you have to step up. This year, I had a family member who was battling cancer, and who on the weekends, stayed with my family. Times were difficult for everyone because seeing someone you love go through something so horrible is exhausting. But together, you get through it, and when someone needs help, you step up to the plate to make their life easier.

#2 The door is always open

When the doorbell rings in the Fuller/Tanner/Gibbler household, the line someone inside the house is, “It’s always open!” Their home is basically everyone’s home, as said by Kimmy, who spent more time at their house than her own growing up. Because of this, I try to let friends know that my door is always open, that my house can be an outlet for them if they’d like. There’s nothing better than spending time with family and friends, and this year especially, seeing my friends less due to college, I try to make time as much as I can.

#3 New Swears

In the words of second-grader Max Fuller, there are three bad words: darn, booger, and the best one of all, Donald Trump. Yes, the man of the year is a swear word in this little boy’s book. Well, “Donald Trump” really isn’t a bad word, but more like a scary one. The way I take this is that as we grow up, those words our parents forbade us to say have become normal in our vocabulary. Therefore, this bad word Max speaks of will also become more normal as he grows up. This was quite the year, and the election was one of the pinpoints of it. Whether we like it or not, Donald Trump will become our President, and while this is scary to think about, I feel that his presidency might become normal to us and that maybe he won’t be as terrible as we think he will. Maybe I have too much hope for this “bad word”...

#4 Be Yourself

Kimmy Gibbler, the girl known for her outrageous fashion sense and personality. The best part about Kimmy is that she embraces her zany self and inspires others that being different and weird is okay. This is a lesson I think everyone can learn from. Making friends at college was something I was a little nervous about because I’ve created such a comfortable relationship with my best friends that I can pretty much say anything without them thinking I’m crazy. But it turns out that you can make friends being your weird self, and Kimmy proves that being best friends with DJ because DJ loves her for the person she is. We can’t make friends by pretending to be someone else. Be yourself, and stay true to who you are.

#5 Admit that you can’t do everything

Through DJ’s pain and stress after losing her husband, she tries to convince her family that she’ll be perfectly fine raising her boys on her own. Her family sees right through this and convinces her that she can’t possibly do everything on her own, and should accept their help. I tend to put a lot on my plate, and especially so in college. And in times of stress, you don’t have to always put a brave face on. Accept the help or support from others, because we’re only human, and there is only so much that we can do on our own.

#6 Getting old is not such a bad thing

“Damn we look good,” Uncle Jesse says looking at Danny, Joey, and Becky. It is 30 years after the characters were first introduced, and the older characters on the show look great! And so do the sisters and Kimmy. It probably helps that the 80’s fashion was done away with, too. But getting older isn’t just about looking good, it’s about the lessons you learn along the way. The inspiring pep talks the girls had as kids are now being passed on to DJ’s sons and Kimmy’s daughter, Ramona, and growing older helped them mature, to help their own kids. Getting old shouldn’t be scary, and the cast definitely proves this.

#7 A good hug can always fix a problem

After every pep talk comes a hug in the Fuller/Tanner/Gibbler Family. The power of one hug is tremendous. It can help when one's sad, angry, and hugs can also heighten a happy occasion. I'm the type of person to give hugs upon meeting someone for the first time. And I tell them, "I'm a hugger." Every episode includes at least a dozen hugs between the characters, proving to viewers that hugging is the best medicine or happiest form of love.

This wonderful show in which I grew up with has taught me countless lessons from when I was a child, and now as a young adult. As cheesy as it is, it might just be my favorite show, and I'm proud to say that it is.