“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” That’s my alarm going off at 7 A.M.

Shower, breakfast, and then, I am out the door by 8:15 A.M.

Get to my desk at an internship that I love and write press releases, send e-mails, and attend a marketing meeting.

Break for lunch.

Go up a floor to my second internship and edit videos, transcribe interviews, and make phone calls.

Leave at 5 p.m. and head home to make dinner, put in a load of laundry, and work on homework for my online summer classes.

In bed around midnight with my alarm set to do it all again the next day.

The only difference? Tomorrow night, I am waitressing at the Nebraska Club after my two internships and I have a test for my Criminal Justice course due by 11 P.M.

Welcome to my summer of “adulting.”

This summer is the first time I have been a part of the official grown-up world. Ask anyone that knows me and I have always been Miss Independent, but this is the first summer I have stayed in Nebraska instead of going back home to Colorado. Last summer, I was a nanny for a family with two boys and we spent our days at the pool or the baseball fields. I worked from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and my afternoons were free for shopping, pool time with my friends, and quality naps. It was easy to take time off from work and I went to as many Rockies games as I could, drove up to the mountains with friends, and flew down to Arizona for a quick family vacation.

Want to know how many trips I have taken since May? Zero.

Granted, I am an overachiever and my schedule is so full I barely have time to breathe, but this summer has been the farthest thing from the “fun” summers I am used to having.

I am living in a great apartment, but the cost of rent and utilities are pretty rough. Tack on my student loan payments, gas, groceries, credit card bill, cost of textbooks for the fall and the unexpected surprise of a new laptop (of course mine would break this summer) and fixing my car (because when it rains, it pours) and I am ready to scream.

I remember the good old days when my mom would make dinner every night and I didn’t think twice about leaving my light on when I left the house because I wasn’t the one paying the electric bill.

Those days of carefree living? Gone. Over. They are never coming back.

I have entered the world of “adulting” and I’m pretty sure there isn’t a way out.

Now, it’s on me to pay my bills, do my laundry, cook dinner, take my car in, buy a new laptop, fill out my student loan applications, the list just seems to go on and on.

It’s all worth it though, right? I’m getting great experience through my internships and wonderful connections waitressing. I am turning from Miss Independent to Miss Responsible (I know, we’re all shocked I made it there.)

This adulting, this redundancy, this new level of responsibility, though not exciting in the moment, is what growing up is all about.

This all leads to the adulting where you get out of bed and crave to do what you love and, surprise, get paid for it.

I’m ready for this summer of adulting to lead me into being a full-fledged grown-up.

Wish me luck?