I have never met a person who enjoyed being in pain. But I have met people who enjoy challenges. College is a time in particular full of challenges and sometimes accompanied by pain. Being away from home for the first time, having tough professors all while trying to figure out where you fit into the world are common challenges for college students. But whether your challenge and or pain lasts a couple of weeks or a whole semester they are part of the college experience.

1. Pain and Challenges make you work harder

Sometimes we feel the odds are stacked against us and it can make the simplest task seem like a nightmare. However, having that challenge gives you the motivation to work harder than the rest. Imagine that you have a test in Biology and it's your hardest class. If you studied for twice as long as everyone else while balancing a job and received a 90 you should be proud of yourself.

2. You realize who your real friends are

People do not like to see others in pain. Sometimes it can be so overbearing that people stop talking to you. But the people who do stay are the ones that count and often very few.

3. Your mental, physical and emotional strength increase

There is the old saying that you don't know how strong you are until being strong is your only option. Sometimes we get hurt, whether that's some kind of heartbreak or a disease progresses. However, when we learn how to deal with pain we become more tolerant of it and use it as motivation to try harder.

4. You learn to appreciate the small moments in life

The moments that you are able to forget about your pain are some of best parts of life. Whether it's for 20 minutes eating at the dining hall, or even just walking back to your dorm with your best friends you learn to log in the present.

5. You learn to focus on all the things that you are able to do.

You never know what you have until it's gone. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to tie our own shoes. Some aspects of life are uncontrollable, but good people recognize those parts and focus on everything they can do to make themselves stronger.