Why do you like to do what you do?

I asked myself that question today and I was perplexed as my professors continued piling additional homework on me to do over my easter weekend. It just doesn't really make sense; I'm not a massochist (sp?) but I do enjoy the challenge that the homework presents to me. Not necessarily while I'm working on it, but more so the after the fact feeling of completion that comes with it when you hand in the finished product.

Yesterday during an interview, a woman asked me if I had ever felt a pressure to learn something new in a very short amount of time and what actions did I take to do it. I felt as if there was no correct way to answer this basic question of human nature. We all do it, but how do we handle it? I told her honestly that almost every test I had taken in my curriculum felt like this with midterm and finals weeks being the most stressful of those times since I had the load of up to 5 classes on my shoulders. Most recently, and definitely not the least of which is a test in my differential equations class I've got to prepare for on this Friday. All semester I've had so much trouble following along and paying attention as our teacher rants and raves, giggles and annihilates functions. Basically, I approach it with a mindset as if I'm Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. It has to be done no matter what the cost, because if it isn't, it's the end of the world. Or at least the end of the road for me in my differential equations class.