Lesson #1: Your Past Doesn't Determine Your Future

As a freshman, one of the things I found most appealing about college was the whole "blank slate" thing. Here, at a large university, no one really cares who you were in high school or who you hung out with or what you did. But the truth is, you don't have to wait for some major event to come along and give you a fresh start. Sometimes it helps, but ultimately your life is not pre-written; you can choose when to close one chapter and start a new one. Because if I've learned one thing from my many years of being a Friends enthusiast, it's that you can always start over. Your past doesn't determine your future.

I'm sure we all remember the iconic pilot episode of Friends (appropriately titled "The Pilot"). If you're a little rusty on your Friends trivia, let me lay it out for you. Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey, and Chandler are hanging out at a coffee shop, reflecting on Ross's impending divorce, when in walks Rachel, an old high school friend of Monica's, who's just left her fiancé at the altar.

In the following scene that foreshadows much of Rachel's character development throughout the series, Rachel stands in the kitchen of Monica's apartment and talks to her father on the phone. Her father is angry with her and wants her to return to the wedding, but Rachel tries to make him understand why she can't.

With this somewhat confusing metaphor, Rachel tells her father that she doesn't want the life that everyone else has chosen for her; she wants to decide for herself. In response her father cuts her off, and so begins this spoiled rich-girl's journey from daddy's little princess to a successful, independent woman.

Having previously relied on her parents for financial support for all her life with her only goal to marry rich, Rachel finds herself faced with the difficult task of having to reinvent herself. Monica welcomes her into her home, allowing Rachel to stay with her while she attempts to reorganize her life. Rachel manages to find a job at the Central Perk coffee shop and begins to learn the valuable lesson of supporting herself as an adult.

In this episode, Rachel is a prime example that your future isn't set in stone; you can choose your own path, regardless of the one you're already on. In the span of one episode, Rachel goes from someone who has always had everything handed to her on a silver platter, to someone who really has to work for what she has. But in the words of Monica, "this is probably for the best, you know? Independence, taking control of your life". Rachel is finally free to decide things for herself, regardless of what things have been like for her in the past. Walking away from her privileged life was probably the hardest things Rachel had ever had to do, but she did it. She chose to become a new person and carve out her own niche in the world.