What is They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted?

It is a snowclone image macro that pairs a portrait photo with the caption "They told me I could be anything I wanted, so I became ___" to roast the subject's look or pose.

Where did They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted come from?

It started with a captioned PTSD Clarinet Boy edit reading "so I became a God," first posted to Digg on December 11, 2009, with the source photo originally from the Awkward Family Photos blog in July 2009.

What does They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted mean?

The joke mocks the gap between the "be anything you want" line adults tell kids and the clearly awkward or absurd result pictured in the portrait.

How do you use They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted?

Add the caption "They told me I could be anything I wanted, so I became ___" to an awkward portrait, filling the blank with whatever punchline the photo suggests.

Is They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted still popular?

It is a classic image macro format from the late 2000s whose single-portrait caption style helped shape later macros like Karate Kyle and Vengeance Dad.

They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted

2009image macroclassic

Published October 2, 2026

"They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted," also known as "They Said I Could Become Anything," is a snowclone image macro that pairs an awkward portrait with the punchline "so I became (X)" to roast the subject. The format started as a PTSD Clarinet Boy edit in December 2009 and seeded the single-portrait caption style later used by image macros like Karate Kyle and Vengeance Dad.

snowclone memes image macro memes late 2000s memes exploitable templates catchphrase memes

Overview

The joke sets up with "They told me I could be anything I wanted, so I became _____," where the blank gets filled by whatever the photo's subject looks like, often a God, a meme character, or something absurd that clashes with the earnest parental line1. The humor hinges on the gap between the "you can be anything" encouragement adults give kids and the obviously questionable life choice shown in the picture.

The template typically uses a center-framed yearbook or awkward portrait, drops the caption in large block text, and lets the mismatch do the work. Edits beyond the original clarinet boy used photos lifted from Awkward Family Photos and other embarrassing-portrait sources. The one-image-with-caption style this format popularized fed directly into other 2011 image macros, including Karate Kyle and Vengeance Dad3.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Awkward Family Photos (source photo) / Digg (viral spread)

Date

2009

The underlying photo, known as PTSD Clarinet Boy, originally appeared on the single-topic blog Awkward Family Photos in July 20093. The earliest known captioned version read "They told me I could be anything I wanted, so I became a God" and surfaced on Digg on December 11, 20091. That same day, writer and comedian Julia Segal re-blogged the image on Tumblr4.

How It Spread

Within days of the Digg post, the macro jumped to other humor aggregators, appearing on Bordom.net on December 14, 20095. Through 2010, the format kept producing new "so I became" derivatives across Reddit's r/pics2 and a Bodybuilding Forum thread posted on February 19, 20106.

By mid-2011, humor blogs ran best-of collections, with MemeBase publishing a roundup on May 26, 20117 and Smosh posting its own compilation of top entries8. FunnyJunk also hosted a stream of user-submitted versions built on the phrase9. The single-portrait caption approach the clarinet boy edit helped standardize set the visual template for later image macros built around one staring character.

Timeline

2009-07

The source portrait, later nicknamed PTSD Clarinet Boy, is posted to the single-topic blog Awkward Family Photos.

2009-12-11

The first known captioned version, "so I became a God," is posted to Digg.

2009-12-11

Writer and comedian Julia Segal re-blogs the image on Tumblr the same day.

2009-12-14

The image is re-posted to Bordom.net, pushing it to more humor aggregators.

2010-02-19

A thread featuring the format is posted to Bodybuilding Forum.

2011-05-26

MemeBase publishes a roundup of "They Told Me I Could Be Anything" entries.

2011

The single-portrait caption style influences the launch of Karate Kyle and Vengeance Dad image macros.

How to Use This Meme

Pick a portrait where the subject looks awkward, unflattering, or absurd in some specific way. Caption it "They told me I could be anything I wanted, so I became ____," and fill the blank with whatever punchline the photo suggests, often a God, a meme character, or an uncharitable label about the subject's appearance or outfit2.