what other idioms can i use?

Question

It’s true that throughout our collective education experience, we’ve been worked like dogs with assignments, made busy as bees with extracurriculars, and packed like sardines in the hallways. But aside from the occasional tediousness of everyday life at the Fairmont Zoo, we’ve had a pretty good time.

how else can i present these idioms but still have the same meaning with the working hard and busy part?

Answer 1

Just in case you are meaning that we should use different idioms:

"we've been worked like galley slaves with assignments, made busy as beavers with extracurriculars, and packed into the hallways like rush hour in Tokyo."

Answer 2

It’s true that throughout our collective educationAL experience, we’ve been worked like dogs with assignments, BEEN AS busy as bees with extracurriculars, and WE'VE BEEN packed like sardines in the hallways. But aside from the occasional tediousness of everyday life at the Fairmont Zoo, we’ve had a pretty good time.
(ADDED LETTERS are in caps for you to change what you had written.)

I tried my hand at it:

"Working like a dog is how you would describe my school days! Or you could say that I had been as busy as a bee. Every day - packed like sardines in those stuffy, cramped hallways. I am SO glad that it is done, although mostly I would say that we had a pretty good time over there in the Fairmont Zoo. ""