Found this gem on /r/Engineering over a year ago. Couldn't find the actual author. Good advice for those wondering how they're going to make it through the semester.

"How do I motivate myself to get through the burn at the end of a semester of engineering?

Burn everything.

Now I'm not saying burn down the building. It stems from my analogy of what engineering school is like.

You are the conductor of an old school steam train. Trying to get from point A (beginning of semester) to point B (the last final). The train is your life.

You start out, everything is fine. Burning through the coal a little faster than you would like, but it's okay. You're making good time towards the destination. But then, trouble. The first hill (Midterms Round 1) looms up in front of the train, you panic. Throwing as much coal as you can onto the fire you pay no attention to how much there is. You keep telling yourself "I just need over this hill, just need over this hill. It's all that matters right now so I need to use as much as is needed." Finally, disaster is averted and the train is cruising down the other side of the hill.

But the downhill is much shorter than the uphill and another hill (Midterms Round 2) is no longer "way in the distance". It's getting closer. Looking back in the coal car you see that you are through over half of it. Panicking you run through all the cars looking for more coal. There is none there. Every car holds your posessions, your friends, your relationships, your family. Everything you've put time into up until this moment is on the train.

You realize that if you don't get to point B, a lot of the work you have put into your life was for something you can't or didn't achieve. And that's not good. Steeling your resolve to finish what you started, you march back to the front of the train to face the next hill head on.

You hit the hill while you were busy reflecting and spending some moments with friends and family. The train has already lost momentum, it feels like it won't make it another kilometer along the tracks.

In a flash, you empty the coal car. You get out the broom and dustpan and sweep every last speck of coal into the fire. It does enough. Beat the hill.

Thinking it's over, you turn to look down the tracks. There is no downhill and the Rockies (Finals) are right in front of you. The train as it is right now will not make it over. You know this in your heart.

So you go through the cars and gather everything that you cannot live without. Your immediate family. Your best friend. Your girlfriend. Your sanity. Everything else gets left on the passenger cars. Aquaintances, your health, your sleep, your hobbies, your pride and your hopes. With a sigh of regret and a twinge of pain, you disconnect the passenger cars, leaving the dead weight that was your life behind.

The light train builds up some steam with the little fuel it has left and you prepare to hit the hill. You hit the hill. Burn everything. The carpet, the drapes, the furniture and your clothes. It's not enough.

You tell your family you'll see them later and kick them off.

You hope your best friend understands as you throw him out the back of the train (anything for that extra push).

You kiss your girlfriend goodbye and tell her you'll meet her there.

Finally, it's just you and your sanity standing naked, trying to get up the last stretch of the mountains. With a sparkle in your eye and a maniacal laugh you throw your sanity into the fire.

You get to point B. You recover as much as you can. Hell even your sanity is still alive. But it's not quite the same...it twitches occasionally and sometimes stares off into the distance, not speaking a word.

And that, my friend, is how you get through a semester of Engineering.

Dismantle your life for every scrap of motivation and work ethic you can. The valuable things will survive."