Yara Shahidi gearing up for a 'Grown-ish' graduation

HOLLYWOOD -- The cast members of "Grown-ish" are gearing up for graduation day. Senior year at California University is about to end, and that means lots of big life decisions for Zoey Johnson and her college friends.

Yara Shahidi, who plays Zoey, says she can relate to what her character is going through.

"I think I've gotten to the point where every decision feels so big that it's become small now. And I think to a certain extent, one thing that Zoey has taught me is that you can always recover," said Shahidi. "When you play a character that is constantly seemingly messing up, but somehow in there growing up too, I feel like it was an important thing for me to experience even if it was in fake college, because it's let me kind of move into my own life. And be okay, knowing that I'm going to make the best decision for me right now and know that there's still a future waiting if something goes awry."

This season, Zoey will face the tough choice of pursuing her dreams in the fashion world or being with her boyfriend Aaron, played by Trevor Jackson, as he chases his own goals. Jackson is happy the show has been shining a light on his generation's attempts to solve problems while also attempting to do good in the world.

"I want to save the world, change the world. What am I doing? What am I not doing? What can I do more of?" said Jackson. "And, you know, every time we tackle an amazing topic, I feel like I'm playing a part and doing my part in that and helping the world by creating a conversation that will create solutions to the issues."

"Grown-ish" airs Thursday nights on Freeform.

Disney is the parent company of Freeform and this ABC station.