When I grow up, I want to be Carrie Bradshaw. I cannot explain it any better than that. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a writer. I’ve always wanted the eclectically cluttered, high-rise New York City apartment and the big job as an editor at a big-name magazine. I want the late mornings when I’m dashing to the office with a hot coffee in one hand and my cell phone in the other, rushing to get to a big meeting while an expensive handbag hangs off my shoulder. I look forward to the late nights when I am racing to meet a deadline and chain-smoking cigarettes while hanging my head over the balcony as the city rushes below.
The issue? Well, for starters, I’m not living in a late ’90s or early 2000s rom-com where the main character just happens to be a journalist. Oh, and I have asthma, so the cigarette fantasy is also a bust. Although my earliest memory of wanting to become a journalist stems from a Hallmark Christmas movie about a magazine writer who gets stranded at a cabin with a famous actor, I can recall countless times in which my career aspirations have been deeply reinforced by some sort of film or television show.
Despite having only recently started watching “Sex And The City,” my desire for New York City life has been at an all-time high. That is, in large part, thanks to Sarah Jessica Parker’s portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw, the beloved series’ main character. Carrie is a sex columnist who runs a well-known column based in the city. Her writing is not at the forefront of the show, but rather a vestibule used to catapult the beginning of many of the show’s storylines.
Although Carrie is often shown writing or networking for her job, most of what she does within the world of “Sex And The City” is an over-glamorized depiction of what it means to be a columnist. While I know this, and understand the less-than-ideal parts of the job that I plan on pursuing, this is far from the first time that I have been influenced by a character on television.
Being influenced to pursue a career because of a film or show happens far more often than most people realize. A 2020 survey found that of 1,005 Americans, 58% said that their careers were at least slightly inspired by a movie, TV show, book, podcast or video game. With media consumption on the rise, this statistic is bound to increase as Gen-Z continues to enter the job market.
In middle school, my obsession with “Grey’s Anatomy” led to an entire summer spent researching fetal surgery techniques in the hopes that I would one day be able to successfully become the real-life version of Arizona Robbins. Choosing to completely disregard the fact that I am notoriously bad at math and science, I tried incredibly hard to change this, because I desperately wanted a career in medicine. Surgery looks so interesting and the drama of the show made me believe that is what my life would look like. It didn’t take long for me to return to my desire to be a writer once I got back to school that fall and began studying for Algebra class.
Similarly, I began watching “Criminal Minds” towards the beginning of my high school career. Almost immediately, I wanted to completely veer off course and become an FBI profiler or a detective. I am a bit of a crime buff, so it was no surprise that I would find these types of careers interesting. Still, I come back to the fact that I want to be a writer. Another honorable mention is wanting to be a lawyer after I watched “How To Get Away With Murder.”
During quarantine in 2020, I became really obsessed with Broadway shows and “Glee.” These made me want to pursue performing and acting, either on camera or in theaters. This was a dream I had since childhood, and as someone who grew up acting in community theater, I felt like maybe I had been given a second chance at taking the time to pursue a dream I had given up on long ago. Eventually, though, I realized that I needed to pursue a career where I was guaranteed to be headed somewhere. So I stuck with my gut and applied for college as a journalism major.
Gen-Z is a generation that has grown up with the rise of media consumption. In our lifetime, we have watched television and film become a huge part of people’s lives. We’ve watched social media since its inception, and we’ve seen firsthand the ways that the media impacts the world as a whole. Despite Gen-Z’s love of television, we are not alone in letting our favorite characters influence our lives. In a study conducted in the United Kingdom published in 2017, 39% of those surveyed admitted that they chose their career paths with television show characters in mind. Additionally, 17% have even considered obtaining additional qualifications because of their favorite characters.
For me, whenever a piece of media has inspired me to suddenly desire a new career, it has been a job in a field that I have previously considered. So when I watch a TV show or a movie where a character is portraying a really glamorized and idealistic version of a person who works in that field, it reignites my passion to pursue that career. Ultimately, though, I have come to the realization that I would most likely never feel completely fulfilled within any of these careers aside from writing. My assumption was always “if I become an FBI agent, I’ll still write on the side,” or “I can act and write as a side hustle.”
I’d love to be a surgical resident like Lexie Grey on “Grey’s Anatomy,” getting a front-row view into saving a life every day. Being an FBI Agent like “Criminal Minds’” Jennifer Jareau or a detective like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s” Amy Santiago would be incredibly rewarding, helping to solve cases that would answer questions for people who deserve closure. Being the world’s next Rachel Berry from “Glee” and becoming a Broadway superstar would be a dream, just like pursuing a law degree to become a paralegal like Rachel Zane in “Suits” would be, too. At the end of the day, though, I know after years of schooling and finally landing the job, I’d find myself asking “What’s next?”
I am a writer. It is my greatest passion and also my greatest strength. I want to write for the rest of my life. Whether that’s as a columnist like Carrie Bradshaw, a novelist like Jane Villanueva or something else entirely, I know that I will be happy. I want that life, and I know what to do so that I can get there. I’m looking forward to every part of my future, even the not-so-glamorous parts of it. So here’s hoping that I, too, can get my hands on my dream apartment in New York City–maybe it’ll even be rent-controlled.
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Hi! I’m Annie Gleydura, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.
