Senior fed up with questions about her future gets caught in web of accidental lies

Emma Sheehy, Staff Writer

As the end of their University experience approaches, seniors are often bombarded with the question, “What are you doing next year?”

Claiming that one is “traveling,” “volunteering,” or “figuring it out” are common responses to avoid revealing that they actually don’t have any concrete plans, but for some this question has become an opportunity to put their liberal arts degree to use in a creative way.

For Anna Lib ’17, the mistake of posting a photo suggesting attendance next year at an elite graduate school has created a charade that she’s found difficult to keep up at the University.

“I’m moving to Cambridge, Mass. next year and one of my roommates is going to Harvard, so I posted a photo tagging the school and thought nothing of it,” Lib said. “Turns out everyone took that to mean I figured out what I was doing post-grad. It’s not my fault they have unrealistically high expectations.”

Still, Lib has taken steps to keep her nosy classmates guessing, such as putting her LinkedIn in private mode and being vague in her answers when asked about her plans after May.

Her roommate Erin Holtz ’18 was not impressed with Lib’s scheme.

“People keep asking me if she’s going to Harvard. She’s not,” Holtz said.

Lib is not alone, as classmate Lucas Vaughan ’17 also found himself struggling to find synonyms for unemployment.

“I just tell people I’m working for a startup. I’m not even sure what it really is, but no one seems to be questioning it, so I’m going to stick with it,” Vaughan said.

Despite her uncertainty, Lib remains dedicated to maintaining her unintentionally false future plans.

“I just say I’m moving to Boston. They can figure out the truth if they want,” Lib said.

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