[incision]

>It's for your degree.

I'd wager that this - the notion that school is for a degree, abstract from challenging oneself to learn anything is a healthy contributor the apparent glut of 'uderemployed' graduates.

>A few years from now no one will care about your GPA, let alone your final year project.

Perhaps, but they'll certainly have more to gain from someone who cares about doing quality work and is willing to challenge themselves.

Further, it's not an entirely safe assumption that you'll even be capable doing 'the cool stuff later', particularly without having tried.