Do me a solid - re-evaluate this statement at your next birthday, and the birthday after that, and the birthday after that. I think you'll find your perspective shifting.

Seen through the long lens of history, "100% your own" and "deal with the consequences of your actions" in reference to "college" seems naive. Not to say that there's any more responsibility just for getting older - but the "responsibility" of a dorm-dweller is different from the "responsibility" of a person with a mortgage, two car payments and a time-share.

Likewise, the experimentation doesn't go down as you get older, but the nature of it changes. I'm not sure the "get drunk on a Wednesday" example is appropriate as it can be solved by inspection; I can also say that the consequences are no more an inhibitor than they were when I was 17.

I think it's safe to say that "experimentation" and "exploration" continue for anyone that isn't completely inhibited, while understanding that the things experimented with change. Seen from the perspective of "just out of college" the experiments might not seem as daring... but the same could be said of "just out of college" experiments as seen from the perspective of "just skipped my 20-year reunion."

There are people who never explore themselves. there are people who are saddled with responsibility at the age of 6. Society does arrange similar mileposts at certain ages but I maintain those mileposts are related to experience and opportunity, not age.