It’s that time of the semester when we all—from seniors down to freshmen—come to the same conclusion: college is stupid.

All the assignments start to pile up and are due in the same week. You spend hours and hours in the library, sometimes until 4 a.m., just to come back the next morning. Your eyes burn from all the reading, your head is pounding from staring at a computer screen and your body is so confused about when to be hungry.

Everything piles up, and everyone begins to look a little zombified—more leggings, more messy buns, more naked face days, etc.

But as I recently registered for my final semester at Marshall University, even in the midst of all of this, I had an epiphany: college is beautiful.

No, not all of these seemingly monotonous assignments are going to have significance in your future professional life.

But the beauty of ridiculous assignments, something I’m not sure I even can admit after reflection, is subtle. You can find it in the sense of satisfaction you get from finally hitting submit, in the knowledge that most of the people around you are also trying to stay afloat in sinking lifeboats just like you, in the dedication you put into these projects. It doesn’t seem like it’s worth it at the time, but then you really think about how different your life is going to be post-graduation. A few rough assignments don’t seem so bad in comparison to life in the real world.

It’s stressful, and it genuinely sucks sometimes, but that’s life. Don’t look at it as pointless work that will have no effect on your future, look at it as an experience. It’s a chance to learn—whether the lesson is learning how not to procrastinate, how to effectively organize your schedule or just a way to appreciate the slow days.

Soon you’ll be out in the real world, fighting for a job or fighting to prove yourself to your employers as a recent graduate. For now, you’re just a student. Embrace these four (or more) short years as a phase in your life. That means finding the beauty in the all-nighters and the last second homework you forgot about and the chapters of reading and the hours of studying.

Take the struggle one step at a time, and don’t wish it away. Because it will be gone before you know it.

Codi Mohr can be contacted at [email protected]