When people ask what my favorite movie is, they usually chuckle once they hear the words "High School Musical". They usually agree that it was an iconic movie that shaped their childhoods, but I've never heard anyone else single it out as their favorite movie of all time.

I'm not a huge movie fan. I don't have the patience to sit through a long piece of film without daydreaming and not understanding the plot. Clearly there are some amazing movies that I am missing out on, but I simply prefer not to watch them.

However, High School Musical is different. It was the first real "phase" I had as a kid when I was only eight years old. The classic songs played throughout my childhood like a broken record and I never got tired of them. Troy and Gabriella were the first fictional couple that I "shipped" and of course Zac Efron was my first crush. I know every line and lyric in every High School Musical movie and I've never forgotten them throughout the last twelve years.

When High School Musical first came out, I was in Second Grade. I was in between Third and Fourth Grade when the second movie came out and in Fifth Grade when the third movie came out. While this was intended as Disney movie for children, I could not relate to it. It's impossible for a second grader to connect with a movie about high schoolers. I simply watched it because I loved the songs and characters. However, as I grew up and went through High School, I was able to relate to the characters and the plot more. I listened to "A Night to Remember" before my prom and watched the graduation scene in High School Musical 3 the day before I graduated. Two years later, I can watch these movies and look back on my high school years and reminisce about what an important time that was.

Throughout the last twelve years, my life has changed a lot. I've grown from eight years-old to twenty years-old and everything is drastically different. One thing that is the same, though, is my love for High School Musical. Even though it was intended as a children's movie, it's helped me through elementary school, middle school, high hchool, and now college simply by being there. No matter what is going on in my life, I can always rely on High School Musical to turn my mood from a bad one to a great one. It takes you back through memory lane while still being a great movie and I think that makes it extremely special.