I always knew I wanted to go to college in NYC. All my years of Sex and the City reruns and Gossip Girl binges left me craving a MetroCard and a new sense of self (and hopefully – eventually – a pair of Manolo Blahniks, as well). But when I arrived for my first semester at Fordham University, I realized Carrie Bradshaw and Serena Van Der Woodsen forgot to mention a few things about the barely-twenty-something New York woman experience.

All in all, I'll always cherish the lessons that I learned from watching and rewatching the adventures of Serena Van Der Woodsen and Carrie Bradshaw. Demystifying the disillusionment will never take away from the appeal of their respective series, but as we write our New York stories, it's important to keep these realities in mind.