Last week, TV’s favorite college girl, Lorelai “Rory” Gilmore (did you know that was her full name?) graduated from Yale University (the show couldn’t help but mention “Yale” every other line). This week, the show ends it’s seven year run. The show’s snappy dialogue, loaded with pop culture references and allusions to indie music, politics, class, gender, and academia, garnered the Gilmore Girls status as a critical darling as well as a deeply devoted fan base.

Gilmore Girls has had many rough patches, but it survived the “college years,” a death knell for most shows (The O.C., Veronica Mars, 90210). According to the show, Rory had her mind set on attending Harvard since kindergarten, so she transfered from a public school to an elite prep school in order to achieve her goals. Throughout the show, main plot points revolved around Rory’s academic career, such as Rory’s dilemma over choosing between Yale and Harvard. Poor thing. Still, the show’s kooky heart was the center of Gilmore Girls; its warmth, wit, good humor and amused take on the world radiated out of it.

“I live in two worlds,” Rory said during her valedictorian address when she graduated from high school. “One is a world of books. I’ve been a resident of Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina and strolled down Swann’s Way.”

“It’s a rewarding world, but my second one is by far superior. My second one is populated with characters slightly less eccentric but supremely real, made of flesh and bone, full of love, who are my ultimate inspiration for everything.”

It’s only fitting that the series conclude with Rory’s graduation from college, still we’ll miss the Gilmore Girls.

gilmore girls | college