Second Act is not your typical “Chick Flick.” With a complex and uplifting storyline, goosebumps bumps will form and tears will be shed. Of course, romance is a minor theme, but the story is so much more than that. The story follows Jennifer Lopez’s character, Maya Vargas, on her quest to earn a promotion at her place of work, Value Shop.  We later discover that a teen pregnancy led Vargas to toss the idea of college out the window, and what led her to start her career at Value Shop. We come to know Vargas as a hard working woman with a heart for customer service. Even with her continued impressive job performance, she loses her promotion to a college educated man. Fed up with the way life has treated her she quits her job at Value Shop, and through a series of events, she lands herself a corporate job. She goes on to accomplish some impressive things in her career and little do her bosses and colleagues know, she doesn’t have a college degree. Her compelling story teaches the characters as well as audience members that a college degree doesn’t determine your success or value as a person.

Vargas holds her own in her fancy new job and through her hands-on experience at Value Shop, she has a lot of insider information into what the customers are actually looking for. She is the only one in her firm that completely understands the consumer because she was once right on their level. She proves that street smarts are just as important as book smarts. After twists and turns, Vargas takes this new and crazy experience in stride and goes on to own her own business with the knowledge she obtained from her Value Shop job as well as her time in the corporate job. She now knows success on her own terms and has become the CEO, proving to everyone that doubted her that she was capable of success.

Second act highlights what could be the reality for many women who became mothers at a young age who feel stuck in their jobs and can’t find a better one without a college degree. Even though this scenario isn’t totally realistic, success is still obtainable for those who never earned a college degree. I think this movie really inspires all who watch it not to feel limited in life, and that success is achievable if one puts in the work to earn that success.