7 Life Lessons That I learned from Electronics Engineering

Electronics is a dynamic and very interesting engineering discipline that can be classified under new age engineering studies. It is the parent of emerging subjects like Embedded Systems, Robotics, Drones, VR, AI, etc. For newbies, its the closest thing you can get to Sci-fi.

Being an electronics enthusiast from a very young age, I can only be grateful to my younger self that I took up electronics studies.Over the course of years, apart from the latest micro-controllers and sensors, I have learnt valuable life lessons from electronics studies. Here, I present 7 of the most important lessons I learnt from Electronics Engineering.

1. Ground is what makes electricity work:

Voltage is often considered as the most vital element for a circuit to function or for even current to pass through it. However, no matter how high the voltage source, it is useless without ground. On a closer look, I found life is so similar. Your educational qualification, potential, talents, skills (which can all translate to voltage) will all be useless if you are not grounded. It’s as if these circuits teach us a very important life lesson.

“Fix your vision to the stars and your feet to the ground”

2. Resistance is not essentially a bad thing:

“The property which opposes the flow of current is called as resistance”. This is a how resistance is defined in typical text books. Invariably, it gives out a bad vibe, something villainous and notorious. However, anyone who minutely understands electrical and electronic sciences, knows the importance of this seemingly unwanted property. It prevents appliances and components from burning out and controls the negative effects of current.

Similarly, in life we come across hurdles, self-doubts, reality checks, etc that sometimes slows our pace. This leads to frustration and depression. However, after a certain amount time, you realize it was more of a boon than a bane.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

3.  Even the brightest bulbs don’t glow on their own:

We put the bulb in its holder and switch it on! Thats how we see a bulb glow. But there are a lot of other hidden elements without which the bulb can no way glow. They may be wires, resistors, power supply or other elements.

Similarly, in the life of all successful people, there are numerous other people who may not be as famous or successful as the person himself. But they have played vital roles in his/her success. This is true in all walks of life. For example in a movie, the people who are onscreen get the maximum accolades and praises. But film-making involves people who work equally (sometimes more) hard to make the movie a success. They could be directors, cameramen, editors or even spot boys.

“Be grateful to people who make you happy, they are the charming gardeners who make your souls blossom”

4. The easiest path will most certainly be a short-circuit

In electrical science, when current passes through a no-resistance path, it leads to burn out of power source components and other circuit elements. This short circuit can sometimes take shape of a violent blast or hazardous fire. Human beings, like current have a tendency to be lured by the lowest resistance route. But we, unlike current have the ability to choose our path.

This phenomenon of short circuit has instilled a belief in me that the world belongs to people who are willing to put in the hard work and efforts to succeed at the highest level. The only way to achieve long standing success and happiness is to hustle for that extra edge or put in that extra hour at work. It’s about not waiting for miracles but creating your own miracles – despite the resistances that comes your way. The paths that look rosy are most often traps that leads to a very crowded space – mediocrity.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”

5. Life is like AC waves:

AC waves are the graphical representation of voltage with respect to current. They are typical sine waves as demonstrated in the figure below.

Life has striking similarities with these sine waves. There will be times in life when you will be at the peak of success and well-being. But its essential to understand that this shall pass and there will be tough times as well. But never get discouraged by failure as it will always be followed by success (with the right attitude and hardwork).

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. Its the courage to continue that counts”

6. Voltage current and power:

Power is the product of voltage and current. God has given same potential (power) to all of us. Despite that, not everyone gets to the same level of success in life. Because along with same potential, God has given us the power to choose the balance between voltage and current. Higher voltage essentially leads to lower current and vice-versa because at the end the power has to be maintained constant.

Voltage means confidence, hardwork, ethics, values and willpower. Current means ego, selfishness and pride. So if we choose more voltage, then naturally there is less current. But a lot of people choose current over voltage. That is what makes only a selected few successful.

“Let your work speak for itself”

7. VI characteristics of Diode:

This is one with the deepest meaning and my personal favourite. So I kept it to the end. Any beginner in electronics must have come across a graph called VI characteristics of pn junction diode. The graph is something like the picture below.

The current doesn’t pass through at a rapid pace in the beginning. Even though a lot of effort(voltage) is applied. However, there comes a period when the current rises sharply even with minute additional efforts(additional voltage).

This characteristics has taught me the power of perseverance. If you persevere to your vision for long enough and stick to it, success is bound to follow. And everything is a bit difficult at the start but eventually it eases out.

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did”

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