Where They Are Now: Anastassia Gliadkovskaya
Photo credit to Anastassia Gliadkovskaya.
Anastassia Gliadkovskaya, 23, is a journalist who wants the simple things in life – a house, a large yard and some dogs to play with. Gliadkovskaya is someone who thrives in the fast-paced environment of a newsroom but would rather spend her days relaxing and listening to her favorite podcast. She is a city person who finds herself wanting to move to the suburbs.
“I’m just like a 50-year-old going on retirement,” Gliadkovskaya jokes.
Gliadkovskaya has always been a person influenced by her interests and desires in life. She grew up in Southern California for most of her childhood with Russian immigrant parents. Growing up in the Soviet Union, Gliadkovskaya’s parents held a unique mindset.
“My parents are very skeptical of news,” Gliadkovskaya explains. “Growing up I had no exposure to news whatsoever. Definitely no exposure to American news and really no exposure to independent Russian news sources. They would watch state-sponsored TV in the house and that was the extent of my worldview growing up.”
Living in Los Angeles did not help in providing a positive atmosphere at home.
“I do not have enough words to describe how much I hate Southern California. Especially Los Angeles and especially Orange County. Every stereotype you could imagine about it, that’s how it is,” Gliadkovskaya said. “People in Orange County really do not give a shit about anything. They don’t care about pursuing an education because they don’t have to because their families are wealthy. They live there forever and don’t care about traveling and they marry each other and have kids and the cycle continues.”
Gliadkovskaya turned to creative writing and ventured into fictional realms to escape from the world she did not belong in.
“I loved Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I was obsessed with Greek Mythology,” Gliadkovskaya mentioned as she motioned towards the Greek goddess tattooed on the top right side of her back.
From an early age, she knew that writing and storytelling was a natural skill she had. That writing skil ended up encouraging her to go to college and improve her writing. However, Gliadkovskaya understood that creative writing was not something to blindly pursue. Instead, she chose to switch her focus towards journalism.
“I wrote fiction as a kid a lot, but it made more sense for me to pursue journalism and report about stuff happening in the world,” Gliadkovskaya said. “The more I got involved, the more I fell in love with it. I realized that I do like being in the know about the world. That’s not something I had growing up, and I prefer it than fiction. I find the world much crazier and more interesting. I wanted to go to a school that prioritizes education and I wanted to be among serious-minded people and King’s was definitely that kind of school.”
“I remember that Anastassia attended a session on building your career in journalism that we hosted, and she seemed impacted by that,” Paul Glader, professor of journalism, media and entrepreneurship at The King’s College recalls. “She spoke to me afterward and almost immediately declared a journalism concentration. She was determined to learn from that day onward. And she followed up on almost everything I taught about building a career.”
“Glader always encouraged us to be out in the city reporting, talking to real-world people, attending conferences, getting involved and thinking about how to make connections that would last a long time. We did all these cool tours to newsrooms and seeing that in real life in front of you is so much more motivating and important than just sitting in a classroom,” said Gliadkovskaya. “I love wiener dogs; my partner and I really want one but we’re not ready because we want to travel.”
Gliadkovskaya sits at a table outside 51st Bakery & Café in Long Island City with the sun overhead. She simply cannot resist the urge to acknowledge the wiener dog walking on the sidewalk beside her. She automatically pauses mid-sentence and focuses her attention every time a dog walks by. At times they lock eyes and the dog walks up to Gliadkovskaya and allows her to pet them.
“Your dog is very cute,” Gliadkovskaya says to the owner.
After a long pause admiring her new furry friends, Gliadkovskaya quickly bounces back as if the conversation never stopped.
Gliadkovskaya took Glader’s advice and teachings to heart.
“She often stopped by to talk strategy about her career or about stories she was pursuing,” Glader said. “She seemed to realize that journalism is a noble pursuit and one that pays you to be curious, adventurous and dogged in pursuit of truth and meaning in the world.”
During her time at King’s, Gliadkovskaya worked in several journalism internships ranging from The Daily Dot to EuroNews. She landed a Dow Jones News Fund internship in business reporting her senior year. From King’s, Gliadkovskaya moved on to study at Columbia Journalism School. King’s helped her with a basic understanding of journalism so she decided to apply to the investigative specialty program.
“The Journalism School offers many classes that incorporate investigative skills and techniques,” reads the description of the program on the school’s website.
Gliadkovskaya remained unsure about the career path she intended to take. However, Columbia opened her eyes to the different beats she could choose to report on, such as healthcare.
Gliadkovskaya became interested in health reporting through her partner, who was in pharmacy school and had pharmacist friends at the time. Her partner explained the situation as a complicated story about NY State taxing the sale of most opioids to punish drug makers for their role in the opioid epidemic. Their tax money was supposed to go toward treatment programs in the state, but unfortunately, that did not happen.
“That was a good story for me to get into health reporting because that was a good example of how the state was trying to do something and not really listening to advocates,” Gliadkovskaya recalled.
Gliadkovskaya pitched this story as a freelance feature piece which was a follow-up for the Kaiser Health News, a non-profit group.
“Because of my investigative background, I want to be telling stories that affect patients and real people,” Gliadkovskaya said. “So far I’m happy with what I have achieved.”
Gliadkovskaya later applied to Fierce Healthcare, which strives to deliver healthcare news at the intersection of business and policy. Fierce Healthcare primarily focuses on stories on the industrial impact of the healthcare world rather than on individual patients. However, Gliadkovskaya believed that it was a good experience that would help her in the future.
While she can see herself continuing her career in reporting, Gliadkovskaya could also see herself living a very different life.
“In college, I thought I was a city person, and I was at the time, but the older I get the more I just want a suburban life,” Gliadkovskaya said. “I wish I had a house to remodel, but I don’t so I just do little pieces in my apartment when I can.”
Gliadkovskaya currently lives in Long Island City. As she walks on the side of the road towards the Hudson River, she remembers that there is a large dog park ahead. Beside the dog park, the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and United Nations Headquarters stand out among the rest of the buildings across the river. She points out some of her favorite restaurants.
“That Italian restaurant is really good but very expensive,” Gliadkovskaya says as she motions towards one of the many good eats in her neighborhood. She loves the homey feeling of Long Island City. However, after living in the city for six years, Gliadkovskaya is ready for a change in scenery.
“I think I am in the phase of life where I am ready for something slower. I have always had doubts that I would be able to do it. What if I get bored? But I really don’t think that I would be bored,” Gliadkovskaya said. “I used to need to be in the city, but I just feel like the pandemic made me such a homebody and there isn’t really much for me to do here anymore. I do think that I would be more creatively charged if I had a home, a big kitchen and a garden. Those things are really important to me.”
Gliadkovskaya understands the pressure that comes with the journalism industry. Regardless, she always knew that the most important thing in life is to do what she likes most.
“I sometimes think, wow! It would be so cool to take a class on interior design. Something totally random. I can’t imagine myself doing something other than Journalism, but I am getting to the point where I am less consumed by it and am much more able to separate my other life passions by it.”