What extracurricular activity in high school had the biggest impact on you? / LJWorld.com

“Band.”

— Amanda Wilczak, payroll, Lawrence

“Rugby.”

— Shawn Ireland, finance, Kansas City

“Basketball.”

— Dianna Winsley, property manager, Lawrence

“Volleyball.”

— Diana Medina, student, Lawrence

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Ron Holzwarth 6 months, 1 week ago

I must have been pretty boring in high school, and probably still am, because my major activity was reading. But, by the time I got to high school, I'd already done a massive amount of reading, and very often I went directly to the library after school let out.

But, the question was about "the biggest impact". That was one single book.

When I was a sophomore, I tried and tried to read a book that explained the operation of transistors, because I really wanted to know how they work. I struggled for a very long time on the first page of that book, and simply could not understand what it was talking about because there were way too many words that I didn't know. On just the first page!

So, I wondered for years about transistors, and later decided to major in Electrical Engineering, because then I would learn how transistors work. Finally I got to the EE course "Semiconductor Materials and Devices", and then I finally somewhat understood how they work.

Later, a major disaster took place in my life, and I dropped out lacking only 5 classes for an EE degree. So, I was never able to work as an engineer, only as a technician or technologist. But, I was fortunate to have had some very interesting jobs.

I sure do wish I had never tried to read that book about transistors in high school! It is not worth knowing how transistors work, it will not get you a job. Just consider them to be magic.