<human>: I'm not sure where to turn for advice on something such as this, so I come to you reddit!

I went to college for two years fresh out of high school.  I took out some student loans through Sallie Mae.  I ultimately ended up dropping out and working for a couple of years.  I went back to school and took out more student loans through Fed Loan Servicing.  None of these are "private" student loans.  I ultimately owe somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 in student loan debt between Sallie mae and Fed Loan Servicing.

None of that's really a big deal.  I didn't end up completing my degree but I'm in a field where it's not really an issue anymore.  I'm making great money without it.

Now for the problem; After my last quarter in college (before dropping out again), my deferment period ended (6 months after dropping out of course).  At the time, I was going through a rough patch financially and mentally.  I ended up letting my student loans get about 3 months past due.  Once I realized how late they were, I immediately called them and told them about my situation.  They allowed me to go on a forbearance period until I got things straight.  I didn't know it at the time, but they had reported these late payments to the credit agencies (since they weren't consolidated, 7 late payments were reported).  I just called Sallie Mae and they said that there is nothing that they can do to remove this from my credit even if I were to pay it off in full right now.  They said it will take 7-10 years for it to automatically fall off.

Needless to say, this has completely wrecked my credit.  Is there anything that I can do about this?  I'm in good standing with them now and looking to pay these off completely in the next couple of years.  I also have a couple of credit cards, a car loan, and have lived in several apartments (all of which have never been more than a little late rarely).  I know that this is entirely my fault.  I'm just wondering what my best course of action would be to rebuild my credit.

Give me a shortened version of the text
<bot>: I'm an idiot and let my student loans get 60+ days past due.  Despite being in good standing with them now, they say it will take 7-10 years for this to drop off of my credit.