'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel reacts to fans who now criticize Topanga for giving up Yale for Cory: 'It wasn't our vision'

• Danielle Fishel responded to online criticism that Topanga chose Cory over Yale on "Boy Meets World."
• "It wasn't our vision," she told Insider while promoting her rewatch podcast with former castmates.

"Boy Meets World" star Danielle Fishel responded to online criticism that has surfaced in recent years of her character Topanga's decision to go to Pennbrook University and ask Cory (Ben Savage) to marry her instead of going to the prestigious Yale University on a scholarship.

"It wasn't our vision," Fishel told Insider in an interview promoting her rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World" with cohosts Rider Strong and Will Friedle. She said it was series creator Michael Jacobs' choice to tell the story of childhood sweethearts.

The story Jacobs wanted to tell, according to Fishel, was of a couple who proves "you can meet someone when you are young and know without a shadow of a doubt that as long as you're willing to work through highs and lows and really fight for someone that you can make a relationship work forever."

"Whether or not Cory and Topanga, or Topanga made the right decision about choosing him over Yale, I'll never know, but I think it worked out for her life," Fishel reflected.

"I think Topanga had something that she wanted, which was a family and a relationship with Cory, and she also wanted a career. And at the end of the day, it did not stop her from pursuing her career and becoming a lawyer and becoming a judge, regardless of whether or not she got the degree from a more prestigious university," she continued.

Fans were able to see where Topanga's career took her on the sitcom's spinoff "Girl Meets World," which aired from 2014 to 2017.

Cory and Topanga's engagement and marriage storyline was idealistic, even in 1998 when Topanga proposed on the episode called "Graduation."

But the actor and sitcom director pointed out that there was balance in the show. Fishel said that Jacobs "also really wanted to show that wasn't the only way to have a relationship," which is why she thinks Shawn and Angela ultimately broke up.