My sophomore design class, MECH 202 has a design challenge. We were given one month to create a device that drives on a ping pong table that climbs over a 2-by-2 and grabs a 4" foam ball on the other side and return to the start. It was hell. This last week I only got back to m y apartment before midnight once, and have been sleep deprived the whole week. Just when things seemed hopeless, and we were thinking our entire design was ruined, we realized we were testing on an inaccurate surface (that was too slick). We went to the dorms where we could use a real ping pong table, and the device worked perfectly on the first try. I honestly don't think I've ever been so happy in my life.
First place at the competition tomorrow morning gets an automatic A in the class. There is some serious motivation to do well on the project.