Buffy The Vampire Slayer

I’m a pretty normal kid.

I get good grades, I like my parents, and when my friends and I hang out, nothing gets sacrificed.

That’s why when I try to explain my passion for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," most people just don’t get it.

This show is about more than just staking vamps. Creator Joss Whedon took a simple idea — an image of a teenage girl who’s attacked in a dark alley and is able to not only defend herself, but also to beat her attacker — and he created an entire universe with it.

The first half of the series (the high school years) was a metaphor about how much high school, well, sucks. High school’s a battle, high school’s hell, etc.

Buffy replies about how nasty the battle was. "Not the battle," Oz says, "high school."

"Buffy" was also a show about feminism. Joss Whedon was sick of the helpless blond girl always getting killed first in horror movies. He thought that girl needed a better image, so he created Buffy, who’s consistently a strong feminine figure and a great role model.

She’s definitely a better alternative for preteens than Marissa from "The O.C.," who’s too busy drinking booze and not eating to worry about the fact that she is a role model for many 12-year-olds.

Buffy, on the other hand, is able to beat bad guy after bad guy. On top of all that, she goes through some major emotional hell. It’s refreshing to see a female figure on television that doesn’t weep for years after something in her life has gone wrong.

Why do I find myself so attracted to Buffy? Because my life is just as crazy as hers.

We both have to deal with family issues, friends issues and stressing over homework. Sure, I’m lucky that I don’t have to worry about fighting vampires or stopping rising demons, but my life is still pretty hectic.

But the main reason I like Buffy is because the show inspires me.

I found Buffy when I was a confused little freshman. People around me were all talking about the future. Teachers told me I needed to start preparing, and most of my friends were already set on what they wanted to do with their lives. Career decisions at the age of 13? No, thank you.

That’s when I started appreciating the writing genius of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Suddenly, it all made sense. I loved something, and that’s how I should spend my life.

Some of my friends want to be lawyers and doctors. When I tell people that I want to be a screenwriter, they’re intrigued. Some think I’m crazy, but Tulsan Cindy Chupack wrote for "Sex and the City." Writing teen melodrama is a real option. It’s what I want to do. To fully explain why I want to spend my life writing for TV shows, I have to start with Buffy.

I have two pretty smart older brothers, go to a really competitive school, put a lot of pressure on myself, and I feel like I have a lot to live up to.

Psychology professor David G. Myers says "If we cannot eliminate stress by changing or ignoring a situation, we had best manage it by confronting or escaping the problem."

So for 44 minutes, I ignore the pressure in my own life and concentrate on Buffy’s problems with school, her vampire boyfriend, or the next apocalypse she has to prevent.

And that’s OK. It’s even helpful. It helped me decide my future.

Thanks, Buffy, you saved another.