We can argue all day about whether Yara Shahidi's Zoey picked the right boyfriend (Team Aaron forever), but one choice that the Cal U student definitely did get wrong is her decision to study fashion design.
In season 2, episode 4's "In My Feelings," Zoey is frustrated by a design project, one that her boyfriend Luca (Luka Sabbat) found a breeze. When an exhausted and overworked Zoey gets back to her friends (including Chloe Bailey's Jazz, who is still mad at her over that texting snafu from last week), the always-praised eldest Johnson sibling is confronted with the reality that she may not be as good at this fashion thing as her bae when Nomi (Emily Arlook) claims Luca is a "genius." As for Zoey, Nomi points out that she definitely is not one.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
(With friends like these, who needs friends?)
Zoey — who, as we learned through countless episodes, desperately cares what other people think of her — does not take too kindly to Nomi claiming that Zoey doesn't earn the "genius" stamp. While there's some interesting back-and-forth about the inherent sexism of the genius label and who does qualify (how dare Aaron claim Beyoncé is more "entertainer" than genius???) ultimately, the conversation comes back to Zoey's own insecurities over her less-than-stellar college performance.
It's Jazz who confronts Zoey about her hurt feelings. These two definitely aren't "gucci" — as evidenced by Jazz dropping her gum in Zoey's daiquiri — but Jazz's harsh words about Zoey not having a passion for design does spark something in the college student. When Zoey points out that Jazz can't possibly always love track, Jazz says that she, in fact, does love it, even when it drives her crazy. And Zoey just can't say the same about her choice of major.
After Zoey goes back to the classroom and finishes her dress, she realizes that creating clothes from scratch is something that she never wants to do ever again. Following a moment of hesitation, Zoey drops her design class.
Zoey's hardly alone in changing her major. According to a study conducted by UCLA (which, one could argue, is the prototype for Zoey's fictional California-based university) 20% of students had selected a new major by the end of their first year.
And, just because Zoey doesn't want to spend hours in the classroom reworking fabric does not mean she has to abandon her passion for fashion. As we saw when Zoey fellowshipped with Teen Vogue, there are a million ways to work in the industry without having to sew a single stitch.
Zoey may feel more lost than ever right now, but this move was a step in the right direction to finding where her true passion exists.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT