This theoretical paper addresses the persistence of architecture students in undergraduate design learning despite the considerable sacrifices that this frequently entails, and proposes a framework for some of the mechanisms that explain students' diligence in their love-hate relationship with the design studio. Such love-hate association is poorly understood, but is clearly a pervasive dilemma in architecture education. The proposed model includes a number of cognitive mechanisms that students may use to reconcile their idealised and romanticised self-image with the incoherent sacrifices of design studio.