Jess Mariano is one of my favorite characters on Gilmore Girls. Watching his uncaring, disrespectful, bad-boy persona develop into a passionate and intelligent writer allowed me to see that he and Rory are really good together. They each impact each other's lives in ways that no other characters are able to accomplish. His last scene in Season 6, Episode 8 made my heart wish someone cared about me as much as Jess cares about Rory. He warns her that she is losing parts of herself; that dropping out of Yale and giving up her dream of becoming a journalist is a mistake.

I see parts of myself in Rory sometimes. College is a whole other lifestyle and it can change a person entirely. I’ve made some dumb decisions and rookie mistakes so far as I began my first semester of college and I did not realize they had changed me so much until one of my best friends and I had a small argument. After the argument came to a close, I apologized and asked her if she was still upset with me. She responded with a "no" however, her next text read, “I just wouldn’t expect that from you”. Once she confessed how she felt, it really hit me how much I changed in just five months. I realized I did things I said I wouldn't do and acted in ways that weren’t like me, just as Rory had. Watching Jess try to snap Rory out of her uncertain daze made me understand her a little more (because at the moment, I was quickly becoming annoyed with her mentality; how she doesn’t realize how privileged she is and that she just dropped out of college because she allowed someone else’s opinion to run her life).

College is rough and there are going to be people who doubt your ability to perform your best work in whatever it is you want to do. You can’t let it drive you off the deep end and carry it with you the rest of the way. You will get absolutely nowhere and be left with nothing but the opinions of people who don’t matter. It is your life; no one else is driving but you; you control the destination you end up in. That is what makes Jess Mariano such a great friend to Rory Gilmore. He told her what she needed to hear because he was the only one she would listen to. The best friend I mentioned is not the only person I would listen to, but her message is what I needed to hear. I need to not get so stressed out about the outcome of my future because of what others might think, however, I need to listen to and keep in mind the advice of those who care about me because they mean well and want me to be successful.

I am so grateful for my best friend and her thoughtful, free-spirited personality; I realize now that, in a way, she is my Jess Mariano.