Well, it's not a living, like you said. :O
Your friends shunned you because they became students?
Are you sure they're not just really busy? I never see my friends any more, I have too much work. I'm actually quite worried I'm losing them and there's not much I can do about it until term's over.
And if by "all it's cracked up to be" you mean the independence, the parties and the whatnot, I didn't become a student for any of that so I wouldn't know. Some students seem to manage to balance their work and their partying and some manage to hold down a part time job so they can afford to live on their own but I don't know how they do it... (maybe they don't spend their evenings on the Escapist or something crazy like that.)