I went to school in the US and my experience is identical to yours. During the school year I'd spend much more than 40 hours a week on schoolwork, I recall taki

I went to school in the US and my experience is identical to yours. During the school year I'd spend much more than 40 hours a week on schoolwork, I recall taking a software engineering course where my team and I would meet on both Saturday and Sunday for 10ish hours each day for a couple months to get our project done. I also couldn't have done that myself because I was only able to do it with access to student loans, as I had to (at the minimum) eat and have somewhere warm to sleep, which I certainly had no money for, so I had to take out loans for food and rent.