Words by: Elizabeth Sabelino 
Art by: Evelyn Johnson

T as in Troy? No Gabriella, T as in Things Have Changed.

To the younger me, High School Musical (HSM) was my whole life. You name it I could sing, dance and act all the parts… Bed sheets? Owned. Merch? Owned. Books? Owned. Stationery? Owned. Troy and Gabriella shirt? I wish I owned. It pained me so much when my cousin got one while I got Sharpay and Ryan. It devastated me. I felt like I was an imposter. I felt like I loved HSM, but it never loved me back like when I auditioned for Gabriella in the school production and didn’t get the part. Nonetheless, my unwavering spirit for HSM never diminished. The cultural legacy of HSM still has a chokehold on my life.

This carried on when they did ‘Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure’ and even ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’. I think it’s because I was still attached to the idea of Troy and Gabriella I was still searching for their narrative. I felt like there was more that they could give. I took it personally when Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens broke up in real life. Was there no way that they could work, work, work this out? The sun did not shine for me when I found out Vanessa got married and became a mother and Zac wasn’t the father (I hope she’s happy though). I felt like I was growing up alongside them and there was more I could learn from them about navigating friendships, love and how to go after your dreams. Even though HSM stars have shifted to different ventures, I think HSM is still their most meaningful project.

As I have gotten older, I can rewatch the movies from a different perspective. Was Sharpay really the villain? In HSM 2, was it Troy’s fault that his future was calling on him? Was it fair for Gabriella to just walk away in HSM 3 like that? Whatever happened to Chad, Taylor, Kelsie, Ryan, Martha, Jason and Zeke after graduation? Over the years, I can tell that I have changed and grown based on how I view HSM now. Watching HSM as a three-year-old and HSM 3 as a six-year-old, my emotional intelligence wasn’t there yet. I couldn’t grasp the magnitude of what the ‘coming of age’ era entailed or how to navigate the start of something new. I only cared about the songs and Troy and Gabriella’s love story.

Rewatching the movies at different stages of my life, I have a bit more appreciation of what these stories offered. HSM 3 will forever be my favourite out of the three the epitome of what it feels like to transition and grow up. There is no dream that is too unrealistic, as long as you put your mind to it. We are all growing up and we deserve the world and nothing less.

Watching from an older perspective, the scene where they sing ‘Right Here, Right Now’ makes me bawl like a big baby. Like??? OMG??? While we are in this awkward position where everyone is moving through different stages of their lives graduating from uni, getting engaged, getting married, having kids it’s ok for us to say that tomorrow can wait for some other day to be, but right now there’s you and me. Although this song was intended to just be about Troy and Gabriella being up in the treehouse while the chaos unfolds below them, I feel the sentiment of what they are singing about. Their music brings a sense of nostalgia and comfort knowing that while everything in the world that I know is constantly changing, I can still have HSM to rewatch and know everything is left the same as when I last watched it.

Although HSM no longer occupies my every thought and my whole being, I still refer to it from time to time as a place of comfort and familiarity. Through every up, through every down, I knew that HSM was always going to be around. Through anything, I could count on the movies to bring me comfort. It helped shape who I am today and continues to help me navigate life.

In my heart, I’ll always know that once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.