Tradition often reigns over the human condition, with the respected patterns of the past mirrored in pursuit of success, wealth, and career satisfaction. However, as attention redirects from dinner table nine-to-five glorifications to the fictional worlds running rampant on handheld devices, a more powerful force has emerged in influencing how individuals discover a life to chase after.

It’s a question that once sparked childlike imagination but has since been constricted into a dream crushing reality as confidence withers and adolescence fades: what do you want to be when you grow up?

What once was as simple as striving to be an astronaut or a suit wearing businessman like your dad now comes with the overanalyzing mind that cannot surpass the fear of the unknown. Workplace environment social anxiety, societal impact, and relational opportunity are pinnacle factors that haunt the current generation rising into the job market. These career lifestyle parameters terrorize the anxious minds that crave to be prepared for the rest of their lives.

The family business has increasingly become a thing of the past, as familial influences are no longer the sole examples filtering through childhood development. Throughout history, familial occupations reflected a rigid class system to be born into and adopted once maturity had been reached — not an option but an expectation.

Historically, the catalyst for career rebellion was often the witnessing of an example of an alternate life. An artist passing through town, a meaningful conversation with a teacher, or a real world observation led to diversion from the job mold that they had been born into. In today’s digital world, discovering careers is as simple as opening Netflix and scrolling through the unlimited options laid out within the streaming service. With the 2020s marking the work-force entrance of the generation that grew up within a booming age of technology that trusts iPads in the hands of three-year-olds, the impact of the digital sphere is becoming clear.

During a trip to the hospital, odds are you are within a 20 foot radius of at least 5 Grey’s Anatomy crazed fans who grew up with “McDreamy” and “McSteamy” crafting their expectations for the looks of healthcare professionals everywhere. Surgeons, nurses, and laboratory technicians are filling up hospitals with a degree in one hand and a remote in the other, awaiting the next episode of the show that introduced them to the passion to be found within the OR.

Chances are you have read of or watched the carefree lifestyle of a young journalist in New York experiencing the whirlwind of acting as the protagonist in a romantic comedy. Struggling to write but looking good doing it is a template that has raised the hopeless romantics searching for unexpected love in the mundane. Andie Anderson’s charm chasing a story in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Carrie Bradshaw’s fashionable chaos in Sex and the City, and Andy Sachs’ hardened ambition in The Devil Wears Prada all act as notable forms of media that have captured the focus of aspiring journalists for the past two decades.

Children internalize what is placed before them, taking in the experience of others to understand what future experiences could await them. The popstar lifestyle — typically locked away in a glamorized snowglobe of glitter and glam — was cracked open by Disney Channel’s 2000s hit show Hannah Montana. Its 4-season run essentially humanized the secrecy, excitement, and fame that Miley Cyrus’ teenage character possessed. Young girls and boys grew up hypnotized by the spotlight that this singer’s talent brought to her life. Alas, today we have reached the era of Hannah-aspiring stars such as the current pop-princess, Sabrina Carpenter, who attributes the beginning of her stardom dream to the pilot episode of a young girl who made her own popstar dreams come true.

In the midst of the admiration for these fictional characters, there is psychological pressure for wishful identification. Wishful identification is the process of an individual attaching to a fictional character due to them possessing emotional or physical characteristics that the viewer desires to see reflected within their own life. In full transparency, there is a theory floating around my household that my “bangs era” is due to my desire to emulate Erica Durance’s performance as Lois Lane in the Smallville series, and well — don’t alert the press — but yes, I think it is. Clocked.

Characters who portray a bold drive to advance their careers inspire viewers, activating a desire to chase a similar path or even just cultivate a workplace presence that reflects that initial spark of interest. From Katniss Everdeen’s political presence, to Jay Gatsby’s business prowess, to Elle Woods’ immovable stance that the courtroom and pink do indeed pair well together, to Margaret Tate’s commanding authority in The Proposal, essentially walking Ryan Reynolds’ character ‘like a dog’ (as the kids say these days), these characters serve as roadmaps for the professional power to be gained and the kinds of careers to be pursued.

Seemingly insignificant choices, like picking up that newly released novel, checking out an old movie, or binging a new hit series over the weekend have the potential to spur a butterfly effect, planting a seed of fascination in the career being explored before your eyes. In a butterfly effect of my own I have author Emily Henry to thank for my piqued interest in Poppy Wright’s travel writing lifestyle in the People We Meet On Vacation novel, which ultimately led me down a path that allowed my writing talent to turn to a passion — and now a sought after career of my own.

Fiction not only allows for the illustration of imagined stories, but also enables readers and watchers to identify with and imagine a life for themselves in the worlds being put on display. Media, whether on a page or through a streaming service, has inadvertently broadened the horizons of what careers are in reach, ultimately uplifting the confidence of the next generation of workers who intend to turn entertaining fiction to professional reality.

Written by Logan Hansen, Photography: Nadely Abdalla, Design: Alyssa Lazarchik

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