I think I'm in that lucky 2% whose first experience going all the way was indeed a fantastic, orgasmic, mind-blowing release of lusty pleasure that left me gasping for days. Spectacular and memorable are just two words to describe it. So I'm not going to lie or be all doom and gloom like some people here and act like I wasn't on Cloud Nine. I was, indeed. When my best friend encountered me later that night, he took one look at my face and knew what had happened.
The thing is, and this is the REALLY IMPORTANT part: I never worried leading up to that point, whether I was a virgin or not, never cared what other people thought about me or what I was supposed to or not supposed to be doing. I never felt like it was really a defining part of who I was. I just went about my business and didn't really think about it.
Being absent from the peer pressure wars and without any real worry about status or labels probably is why it was such a great experience. I was really in love and happy about that, and it was fantabulous.
It was also the 'eighties. Don't know if that factors into it.