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We all had that one friend who seemed to always start partying first and leave the party last. But years went by, responsibilities piled up, and juggling a full time job, family and other adult things gave most of us very little choice but to make those the top priority.

Not for the party animals, though. They tried their best to resist the inevitable pull of gravity, aka maturing, until the point they either let it go, or completely changed their direction of life.

“What happened to that friend that never stopped partying?” someone asked college graduates on Reddit, and the responses started following. Buckle up for the most interesting and surprising stories!

Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.

#1

Silhouetted person sitting on edge of bed in dimly lit room, reflecting on past college party animals and their journeys. ran into an old friend who was like that. We were in our late 30s when that happened and chatted; turned out he partied hard until late 30s and during that time, flitted around job to job to simply fund his partying. One day he looked around and noticed that he was the old guy at the bars hanging with early 20-somethings....realized that all of the folks our age were ahead in their careers, with family/kids etc. Said that was a pretty sobering revelation and enrolled himself back into school and was in his 2nd year of engineering as he wanted to be an aerospace engineer.

rudebish , Jakob Owens Report

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    #2

    Man standing on a cliff overlooking a lake and mountains, symbolizing what happened to party animals over time. that was me.... and i'm sober seven years now.

    LetTheGoodTimes_Roll , KAL VISUALS Report

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    #3

    Person sitting alone on a bare floor in a dim room, symbolizing the aftermath faced by party animals from college. I am that person. Addiction, rock bottom, AA, sobriety, life

    DeliriousMax , Pixabay Report

    #4

    I was that friend. I spent 25 years on heavy drugs and alcohol. I wish I could have those years back, but I don't think I would be where I am today without the struggles that I went through. Coming up on 4 years clean now.

    xbenzerox Report

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    #5

    Man in red sweater sitting in a library, representing college party animals being tracked over time. Librarian, I s**t you not. And he's married and a fantastic father to his daughter. My wedding reception is coming up. He warned me that he plans to party so hard that we'll need to pull his body out of the bay.

    StoolToad9 , Taylor Wright Report

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    #6

    Person with hands clasped resting on an open book, symbolizing reflection on party animals from their college days. A friend of mine in college pulled a Van wilder, and spent 7 total years in college (just getting his undergrad) because he liked the partying so much. He lived in the college 'dedicated party house' that had just two modes, actively throwing a wild party, or recovering from the latest party. What was wild about him was that even though he lived a party lifestyle, he got excellent grades and took phenomenal care of himself (when he wasn't getting black out wasted and having weird sexcapades), and was the person who got me into running/marathoning. Eventually, he finally graduated with a degree in Mechanical engineering, moved to the east coast, got married and became a born again Christian. He seems happy and successful and just had his first kid recently, but its absolutely weird seeing him post pictures of him getting adult baptized and doing mission work when I once saw him rail cocaine off of a blow up [intimacy] doll.

    GlastonBerry48 , Patrick Fore Report

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    #7

    All these thread replies about how they are now extremely successful seem to fail to take into account factors like having rich parents or good social standing or even developed a prior good work ethic to match their social life. if you come from a poor family and you do this in college, you'll less likely be able to be as successful because if you [darn] up when you partied too hard, you wont have anyone to help bail you out of different situations. money makes a lot of difference

    Shinymoon Report

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    #8

    I’m late to this thread and this probably won’t be seen, but I want to disagree with some of the top voted answers. I interned for a Fortune 100 and converted to a full hire, and worked with them for almost a decade. I know a lot of people who partied with the right people… and made absolute [butts] of themselves, threw up in a bush, and got fired the next day. Saw it happen during my internship as well as Christmas parties once full time.

    BAbe_Linc0ln Report

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    #9

    Dunkin Donuts building under a clear sky, illustrating a spot where party animals from college might gather. I graduated ~15 years ago, and just saw someone I went to college with the other day. She served me at Dunkin Donuts, and has no teeth. It made me sad for her.

    Elegant_righthere , Mike Mozart Report

    #10

    Chalkboard with complex mathematical equations, symbolizing college life of party animals being tracked by peers. He became a math professor and when not teaching he travels and has backpacked all over the world.

    User , Roman Mager Report

    #11

    Group of young adults socializing indoors at a casual college party, capturing party animals and their stories. He drank with the right executives at a conference and got offered a job. He now makes three times what I do.

    Moctor_Drignall , ELEVATE Report

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    #12

    Two people driving at night with red traffic lights ahead, capturing a moment related to party animals from college. Full warning, its not good. Had 2 friends like this in uni (2017), one night we were partying at a friends house and they both were fighting on who gets to drive my car home when all 3 of us were drunk. They were blackout and I was halfway there but refused to drive because im terrified of dying in a car. I told them I'll call an uber and they proceed to try and kick my a*s and steal my keys but couldnt even walk well enough to make it over to me. Took my keys and walked home. Stopped hanging out with them. January 2020 they were out partying with their boyfriends, all of them drunk decided to leave and no one made it home. Live in a small town and most good housing is "outside city limits" I don't even know who was driving but they sped off a curve at the bottom of a hill that goes nearly straight down to a line of trees and a lake. Only know that much because that exact curve kills 5-10 people a year and at the time I lived 3 miles from where they passed and it was in the local paper. I refuse to swim at that lake anymore. As much as I didnt like them after our fight I really didnt want my literal worst nightmare to happen to them.

    User , Leonie Zettl Report

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    #13

    Applebee’s restaurant exterior at dusk with illuminated signs and seating, a common spot for party animals and social gatherings. I lived in a house with a bunch of guys. One of them was in electrical engineering. He got a job at Applebees for some extra cash and started having parties with work people after work (so 3-5am). That made it hard to make class so he dropped a semester. We all graduated and he said he would refocus on school soon, but he was having too much fun partying. I went back to college 20 years later for a football game. He is still working as a waiter at Applebees. He is the creepy guy who acts like he is best friends a with a bunch of 20 year old kids. He’s a mess.

    User , Mike Mozart Report

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    #14

    Group of four colleagues in a modern meeting room discussing projects and keeping tabs on party animals from college. He partied with the right guys and now makes very good money in sales where he parties with clients but the company pays for it.

    User , Campaign Creators Report

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    #15

    Cars driving at night under a dark overpass with headlights illuminating the road, capturing party animals theme. I briefly "dated" someone who was a constant partier and our dating was brief simply because he was always drunk when he came to see me. I Googled him out of mere curiosity to see if he was doing okay and found out he ran over a mom of 4 and killed her one night (he was drunk).

    BookDingo , Eliel Frances Etruiste Report

    #16

    Three people raising glasses of cocktails in a bar setting, capturing the essence of college party animals gatherings. He had a work/party habit that I envied the h**l out of, one week he was partying literally every day, next week once his workload increased he was back to studying (and maybe rewarding himself with a spliff or beer after a hard day of working). Now he's on the final year of med school.

    komnenos , Drew Beamer Report

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    #17

    Student writing college notes on a whiteboard, illustrating tracking and updates on party animals from college. Just got his PHD in Particle physics. Started tutoring on twitch for free. Started clothing brand, djs, holds festivals in desert. Seems like he’s doing just fine.

    yehoshuaC , RF._.studio Report

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    #18

    He was able to graduate from college - then went to Aspen and became a gigolo bartender at some hot cocktail lounge. He was always hooking up with different women. He got tired/bored around the age of 30 (his words) so he settled down with one of his hookups and they got married. She was a rich girl from an oil family and her father put my friend in a cush VP job so now he's f*****g rich. He also went rad conservative and is running for local office on an anti-CRT, grooming platform. Havent spoken to him in a few years now. Total [jerk].

    Jaybetav2 Report

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    #19

    Person working on a laptop and large monitor in an office, symbolizing keeping tabs on party animals from college. His trust fund still pays more than twice my salary per month while he makes 200k at a large tech company with his communications degree that he got because his mom was friends with one of the board members.

    To_Fight_The_Night , Arif Riyanto Report

    #20

    Person in business attire using a tablet to analyze charts and graphs, tracking party animals from college days. Works for some finance company making what I assume twice my income based on his house, car, and lifestyle. He partied and f****d off through college but if he had one thing going for him it was his ability to socialize and network, even in groups or topics he didn't know anything about. That's where I lacked. Even with my GPA and grades, I think he still would have out performed me(position wise) had I stayed in that field. Goes to show the importance of networking over actual qualifications.

    Dreadheadjon , Towfiqu barbhuiya Report

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    #21

    Young man sitting on a park bench with head in hands, reflecting on college party animals and their outcomes. i am that loser...i partied till i was 34 and as i looked around the bar i ask myself ...why am i here.where did all my friends GO.....they left the bar to go get married and have kids..and work ..it was a sad realization for me

    Unlikely-Outcome-394 , Inzmam Khan Report

    #22

    Two college friends sitting apart on a park bench, reflecting on changes after their party animal days. He got into med school, partied too much and fell behind and was eventually dismissed. Lost the love of his life (who was also in med school). He moved across the country, and found Jesus.

    UnitAlFa , Vera Arsic Report

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    #23

    A large white house with a spacious porch surrounded by green grass and trees in a quiet neighborhood. dude has an amazing career, wildly intelligent, has a great house in a warm area etc etc. Absolute drunk tho, i think out of the last 6 times ive spoken to him he's been sober maybe once

    Outnabout3535325 , todd kent Report

    #24

    Small white house with red trim surrounded by autumn trees and a white picket fence on a fall day. A couple. Over 5 years they traded their house for cocaine. They broke up. He finally wised up in his early 30's, she was last known to still be a complete mess. Her whereabouts are unknown, she may be homeless.

    picksandchooses , Scott Webb Report

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    #25

    Two men in business attire reviewing content on a laptop in a modern office, discussing party animals from college. Worked at a bar in college, and friends worked at other bars. So I knew a lot of people who drank *a lot.* Most went on to be in sales or some other job where interpersonal communication skills are more valued than raw academic skills. Some do very well.

    User , Austin Distel Report

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