The thing I really wasn't necessarily prepared for after graduating high school was how different summer was going to be once I entered college.

And by different, I mean, adulting.

Sure, I worked all throughout my high school summers but I was still able to make plans with my friends, have some free time, and do things without worrying about any impending obligations (I think the thing I miss the most was actually being able to go to the beach all the time).

Working a summer job while still in high school was like a fake kind of adulting.

It was like the pregame.

Working during the summer after coming home from college, on the other hand, meant a couple of different things: interning, working, or summer school. Or, sometimes — more often than not, really — some kind of combination of the three.

It was work, school, sleep, repeat (but, seriously though, I feel like I'm still broke and tired).

Whenever I would text my friends to try to make plans, our schedules would always somehow clash. And if we did manage to find a time to do something, we were, more often than not, so tired that sleep seemed more appealing than anything else.

Franches Garay

For college students, summer's the optimal time to retake failed classes, get ahead on credits, apply for volunteer and job opportunities, and get internships. It's the time to do whatever we have to to increase our chances of getting a post-college career.

Real life hits and it hits hard.

But despite how hectic everything is and how little time there seems to be for anything else (aka an actual life outside adult responsibilities), I really wouldn't have it anyway else.

Okay, maybe I would. Just a little bit more sleep and a little bit more money without all the work.

"We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?" - Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy