Jim was one of my electronics deans at DeVry. He had an interesting philosophy, which I find to hold true to this day -- and it’s always “recently.”

"You may learn many things while you're here, but remember that it's all really just a form of magic, smoke and mirrors, and eventually becomes completely unintelligible."

I suppose this is because, when you lose sight of the tech, some kid sneaks up behind you and says, "Look what I just did," and that tech-sparkle lights you up again.

As a side note:
Had another instructor who insisted that electronics were filled with smoke, be they resistors, transistors, capacitors, or just a length of wire. If you put too much smoke it, the device reaches what she called "maximum smoke," and -- poof! -- all that smoke gets out.

I had fun at DeVry.