Anonymous asked: hi! i think you've talk about this before but aren't you anxious/scared about life postgrad especially since you don't want the normal 9to5? how do you keep so calm when you have no "safe" plan/base? i have to say i'm older than you and still in university and i have no real clue of what will happen or even what i want to happen after that part of my life is over and i have to face adulthood and i'm not really looking forward to it especially with a major that's not very specific.

I briefly mentioned my my post-grad plans in April when a reader interested in feminism and sexuality asked me to give them long-term advice on jobs, grad school, etc. (The short version: I’m in no position to be an academic or career counselor.) And now is as good a time as any to revisit the topic of my own plans for post-Harvard life, given that I’m finally in possession of a college diploma.

I will be freelance writing, meaning that I won’t have a 9-to-5 in the typical sense. Instead, I’ll be pitching editors the stories I want to write (mostly), planning my own schedule, working for multiple publications instead of just one, and getting a couple projects off the ground in my spare time. Thankfully, because I already freelanced during my year off and during the previous school year, I’m not starting from scratch. In the next weeks, I’ll be launching a web series on SexReally.com and getting started on what must be my 14th book proposal to date. (For the record, I’m really glad I never did end up writing the other ones, which would have permanently placed me in the category of chick lit authors.)

It’s nice to graduate and to hit the ground running, especially with freelance writing, which can be so, so stressful given the uncertainty of landing assignments. Nor does the uncertainty end there, since getting paid in a timely fashion can be quite the battle in itself. But to be honest, I’m in a rather privileged position, because I know that I can always fall back on my Harvard degree if I don’t become the next Erica Jong. You know that Avenue Q song that asks, “What do you do with a B.A. in English?” Well, if you graduated from Harvard, then you can still be an investment banker. (Seriously, the Ivy League can get you anywhere. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to debate.)

So while I can sit here and say, “Go pursue your dreams!” I think it’s probably more responsible to acknowledge that there are a lot of factors, largely financial, that constrain people, especially young people who don’t come from wealth. I don’t come from wealth either, which is why jumping into freelance work right out of school was a very difficult decision. Most of my friends who are entering the workforce are going to make six figures in their first year. I will probably make a quarter of their salary, and that may be a somewhat generous estimate. It’s more than a minor injustice that even Ivy League graduates can’t just do what they want to do without worrying about how they’re going to afford food or shelter, but that’s the nature of capitalism. If all else fails, I’m lucky that I can depend on the reputation of my university to get me a salaried position, but since I’d rather not go the corporate route, I’m going to work hard, budget wisely, and live frugally.

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