Context: I was so happy to get my acceptance letter for grad school.
Speaker 1: I studied for 7 months to take the GRE exam, it was stressful.
Speaker 2: Wow, you were dedicated, did you do well on it?
Speaker 1: I did, and I was accepted to my number 1 program, which meant that I was going to be paid to learn!
Speaker 2: Congratulations, all the hard work paid off!
Speaker 1: I have a feeling the really hard work might just be beginning, but I feel exceptionally lucky.