Some of that is age: schools are generally mostly for the youth(ful). Some efficiency is lost with age, that's just the unfortunate entropic nature of it all.

Some of that is age: schools are generally mostly for the youth(ful). Some efficiency is lost with age, that's just the unfortunate entropic nature of it all. Some of that is nostalgia and beer goggles: we remember the good times and the grades that were recorded in our transcripts, but we forget the weeks of intense stress and the feelings of barely managing to juggle it all or hold it all together. We remember the parties fondly but forget how much those parties were designed to help us forget some of our struggles and drama before and after those parties.