Friends always seems to be a go-to show for laughs and an easy night in. But, “They don’t know that we know that they know” that Friends is known for its continuous slew of puns, jokes, and Rachel-Ross drama. Friends has been around since 1994 and its die-hard fans can never get enough- myself included. There’s no shortage of lessons from the legendary television show, but, how easily are those lessons applied to Monmouth University students?
Living by the shore gives us Hawks easy access to all the hot spots by the ocean, but what Friends teaches us is that it’s okay to spend a Friday night in with our pajamas playing board games. Sure, it may be nice to get all dolled up and go out every weekend, but, a simple night spent de-stressing with your best pals is never a bad idea.
With workloads being at their heaviest this time of the semester, a night in may very well be needed. As Joey would say, “So why don’t you be a grown-up and come watch t.v. in the fort?”
Although some of our friends could be considered the frivolous spending Ross, Chandler, and Monicas of the group, there are still some of us penny pinching Rachel, Joey, and Phoebes of the bunch. As per “The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant,” splitting the check amongst friends can be difficult at times to say the least, because just like Phoebe, “I wasn’t like you guys, okay? I didn’t eat gold and have a flying pony.” But, being honest and open about not having enough to cover a night out is always the best option.
In fact, saying you can’t go out because of insufficient funds, suggesting another cheaper route, or even asking if someone could cover you for the time being are all acceptable and feasible alternatives. Not to mention, if someone does end up covering you for the night, that just means you get to go out another time to pay them back!
Friends character, Rachel continues to show us that even the seemingly talentless can be the most driven, hard-working, and motivated people in the world. From the very first episode, Rachel started out being the one with the least amount of common sense, but since working at her first job as a waitress at Central Perk, she made herself into a successful businesswoman in the Fashion industry. This just goes to show that your first job will almost never be your dream job and that’s okay!
As college students, these first few jobs are most likely not our dream jobs, even if we enjoy them. Whether you’re a waitress, busboy, a retail associate or any other ‘first time’ job, most of us will continue on in the job industry to find our careers. What Rachel shows the audience is that no matter what, we should never lose hope in our journey to achieving our goal, especially when it comes to our careers.
At Monmouth, we are lucky enough to have a wonderful and hard-working staff at the Student Employment office as well as a Career Services team that helps in the setup of not just jobs, but lining up internships as well. These services are not only available for use, but are encouraged by faculty to be used!
Last, and most importantly, Friends teaches us that friends are the family we get to choose. No matter where we are in life, we will always be faced with the decision: Do I really want to keep this person in my life? It is not uncommon to go through a number of friends in your lifetime, especially in college; day-by-day, we are faced with different challenges and different types of people, but, we get the privilege of choosing who we want to keep around for the long-run.
As Hawks, we are fortunate enough to be spending a chunk of our lives surrounded by a number of accepting, friendly, and warm-hearted people that we get to remember for the rest of our lives. I know that I have gone through my fair share of friend break-ups, but in the end, it has made my life all the better.
We have to take the friend break-ups with our new friend meet-ups. We may lose some friends, but here at MU there are 6,500 other students—take your pick!
Friends remains as a classic show to relieve stress, remind us of valuable life lessons, as well as leaves us with a case of the giggles after each episode.
Here at MU, we’re preparing to get out there and embark on the new adventure that is life itself. Whether that means learning to skip the party and have a night in, holding small jobs and working toward our dream jobs, and/or choosing the right people to embark on this mission of life with, we have to remember that it’s about the journey and who you’re taking the journey with.
We will go through our highs and lows, but in the end it’s the people around us who make us love our lives whether in good times or bad. As Monica said, “Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re gonna love it!”
IMAGE TAKEN from Huffington Post
