Each style has its place. Just like you, I found the "harder" problem sets and related classes much more interesting and exciting. That significantly correlates

Each style has its place. Just like you, I found the "harder" problem sets and related classes much more interesting and exciting. That significantly correlates with me being in this field after all. That is also a poor style to pick for an intro class, as the intro class needs to provide an overview of the field and teach many diverse skills in relatively minimal depth. The intro classes are not meant to teach mastery. Good schools pay sufficient attention to their students to bump up the occasional student that is taking the intro class instead of the more appropriate for them mastery class.