I feel your pain.
It didn't really hit me until I started working full time. Before that, I had a part time job. It was still almost like being in college. I would stay out late and party without having to worry about my hangover being a poor career move.
My cousin is just entering his first year here at UCF. I'm so jealous. I would give anything to be a freshman again. In those days, I lived away from my parents but they still supported me monetarily. My only job was to go to class (occasionally) and maybe learn something. But biggest dilemma of the day was trying to figure out what I should wear to the social that night. Ahhh....those were the days...
I miss the late nights and the parties. There will never be a time in my life when I can hang out at the fraternity house until 4am on a Wednesday night. I mean, I could still do that but that would make me one of
those grads. I remember laughing at those PC 95 and PC 94 people who would still come around that Fall of 1999 and try to relive their college glory days. I use to think, "Don't you have a job? Don't you have anything better to do than hang around a bunch of college kids?" I never realized how difficult it was for them. It's a big change going from having a ton of freedom to having a 40+ hour a week job. There's no more excuses. An employer won't accept, "I overslept" like a professor might. And you can no longer blame alcohol for being the cause of your problems.
The parties you now go to will be the company Christmas party. And you better make sure you DON'T get drunk there....your co-workers won't love you the same way your sisters will after a night of drunken outbursts.
And this whole waking up at 7am thing is killing me. After 4 years of going to bed at the earliest at midnight, I feel like such a nerd! My roommate still has another semester and my boyfriend has until next spring. So, while they're out partying on a Tuesday night, I'm asleep because I have to be up early for an 8 hour day at work. Their parents still give them money while mine have wiped their hands clean of me.
It's good to know that there's others who feel the same way!