education vs. learning

If you are around university graduates for long enough, you will eventually hear those sentences: "I was so stressed out by our exams...Its one of the hardest university...It was really exhausting"

Its seems that we feel better about ourselves the more difficult and soul wrecking our "training" period was....Why does a good quality education has to be hard, stressful and exhausting?

On the other hand, things we learn in our "free" time are fun, enjoyable and soul-nourishing