Advice for a graduating college senior?

In my last semester of college, I'm starting to get really sad thinking about the end of school. I accepted the FT IB offer and everyone else I know going into banking is ecstatic about life after school. Everyone knows the banking hours before recruiting (hence the username) but actually going through it is so different. After reading countless posts about depressed analysts and seeing firsthand how hard analysts were grinding this summer, it really put things into perspective for me. I didn't like banking after the summer but accepted the FT offer anyways because of the recession. I feel so blessed to have a job that pays 6 figures out of college but can't help envying those going into jobs that actually have a work life balance. 

It's not the partying that I'll miss about college but the amount of free time I have, with all of my best friends within a half mile. I know it's impossible to have plenty of free time in banking but how do you guys deal with it? How do you fully enjoy your time out of the office when one ping on the phone forces you to drop everything? This post isn't to make current bankers feel bad about their situation, I guess I just want to know that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Anything you wish you would've done in your last semester of college? How do you overcome this looming feeling of sadness?  

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