Powerful Life Lessons From "High School Musical" We Can Take Into Our Adult Lives | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

Powerful Life Lessons From "High School Musical" We Can Take Into Our Adult Lives

We love the music and the nostalgia, but, how often do you think about the struggles each of the characters went through?

97
Powerful Life Lessons From "High School Musical" We Can Take Into Our Adult Lives
mbc.net

Our generation loves nostalgia. Every late 90s - early 00s girl holds High School Musical in a special place in her heart. Even though they're staying up watching Netflix instead of staying up late watching Fresh Prince of Belair re-runs on Nick @ Nite, girls cherish the phase where Sharpay was their ultimate diva inspo and Tiger Beat Zac Efron posters was her monthly mission. It's been eleven years, and college students haven't forgotten a lyric.

Yet, how often do we think about the lyrics that have been become like muscle memory to us? Yes, we love the music, the nostalgia, and the cute guys. However, how often do you think about the struggles each of the characters went through?

Most stories that revolve around high school like to ignore the inevitably that its characters need to go to college. However, in High School Musical, this inevitably looms over the ensemble and is the catalyst for most of the tension between characters and the character's personal anxiety.

When you're around ten years old, these problems seem far off. Failing a class doesn't have many consequences. We think about boys but have never been with one. We're not thinking about our career, school admissions, or a professional resume. We could try, but really we couldn't understand any of the character's struggles.

However, reanalyzing as an adult, High School Musical can be more than a campy teen drama. It contains powerful life lessons we can carry with us into our adult lives.

As the trilogy progresses, Gabriella becomes conflicted between her career ambitions and her romantic relationship with Troy. Many people meet their future spouse in college, but sometimes conflicting life plans can get in the way. You can find yourself changing your plans to keep your romantic relationship feasible. When you're young in love, it can feel like sacrificing those ambitions to be with someone is the ultimate gesture of devotion. As a couple, you feel like you can overcome anything, and it can be easy to forget to look out for yourself. Making pro-active career moves are more concrete than a romantic relationship. This is especially a problem for young women.

Despite Troy's persistence, Gabriella refuses to compromise. She's clear about what she wants and gets into Ivy League schools. Though she appears again, she leaves high school early to attend Stanford.

"Gotta Go My Own Way" is a power anthem who finds her professional resolves wavering because of a relationship.

Finding out who you are is hard. It's even harder when you're living in the shadow of an over-bearing family member, like Sharpay. Ryan is kinda of a goon in the first movie, but later, he steps into its own. When you have strong family ties, it can be hard to become independent, especially in college. Not only because you can't function on your own, but also because your strong sense of family loyalty may make you feel guilty for abandoning them. Often, students who feel their family needs them feels their success means leaving them behind.

Ryan's interests mimic Sharpay's, but in the second movie, he finds new interests and friends apart from her.

He becomes his own person, and in the next movie, wins a scholarship to Julliard, while his sister does not.

Ryan's story is not only about becoming your own person, but also, like the story of the first movie, it's about the subversion of gender roles and enjoying interests outside of the stereotype you have of yourself (The song "Status Quo" is all about this). Ryan is undoubtedly gay-coded, therefore his interests and style are feminine. Yet, he begins to embrace things and clothes that are considered masculine (likewise, hyper-masculine Chad embraces his style and interests). In the struggle to find our identity, it's easy to use labels, and in turn, not do anything that defies those labels and makes us question our self-image. This is even more amplified when you're a part of an oppressed social group (the pressure for gay people to be flamboyant, the pressure for black men to be masculine). However, real people are not characters, and their interests and behavior dynamic and complex than labels and stereotypes. It's important for our growth that we don't box ourselves in.


Sharpay may have been privileged, but nobody can say anything was handed to her. She is nothing if not sheerly tenacious. She's so hard-working the internet has collectively pardoned her for being the antagonist, calling her "The True Victim of High School Musical." Sharpay put everything she and her brother had into theatre, while wishy-washy Troy and Gabriella kinda had their fingers in two cakes. Had Gabriella never transferred to East High, things might have turned out differently for her. It seems like luck got in the way.

The economic outlook for millennials is poor. At times, the odds can seem overwhelming. Even if you do work hard, the odds of getting your dream job are slim. It is easy to think if that's the case, why work hard at all? Why dream if it leads to disappointment?

Yet failing isn't falling down, it's not getting back up. Sharpay doesn't get the lead in the school play in the first movie, she can't be in the talent show in the second, she doesn't into Julliard in the third. In her spin-off movie, she faces far more discouraging setbacks. But it doesn't stop her momentum. We fear having to cope with disappointment, but the way to cope is keeping dreaming.

Sharpay's story is about failure. In your field, you might not always get the job you want, and there will always be more talented than you. But you need to keep working hard regardless. People (and employers) admire you for being so tenacious like we admire Sharpay. Sharpay has to go to a state school, while her brother attends Julliard. She must have felt low at that moment, yet in time, she becomes more successful than him.

And everything Sharpay sings is a power anthem.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

180556
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

7543
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

452710
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

23414
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments