Big four dilemma

Although I know this has been a touched upon topic, I'm wondering this. Is it "a cruel" joke that the big 4 take the best accounting students who have been academically challenged for the past four-five years and make them do mindless work for 50 hours a week? I've been working for 2 years now, is it time to jump ship or does the work ever get more challenging? Is it like this everywhere? Do people feel fulfillment in this work?