I guess less idyllic view, and more idyllic experience. I was fortunate to find like-minded folk in my class, and fortunate enough to have faculty that allowed

I guess less idyllic view, and more idyllic experience. I was fortunate to find like-minded folk in my class, and fortunate enough to have faculty that allowed us mere undergrads access to equipment "beyond our pay grade". Obviously the bulk of the class was there to pass, maybe 10% of us pushed the limits, learning the craft beyond the carricilum. We were probably 10 folk or so from a class of over 100. It was perhaps easier in my day - we had labs with machines no person owned. So you could spend time in the lab beyond the necessary, and the others would be there too. I imagine today there's less shared working space like that, but hopefully there are still ways to find like-minded souls. Self learning is great, and we all do that a lot now, but I've been fortunate to find others in my work community who still enjoy sharing, learning, and teaching. Its a bit less lonely that way, and none of us have all the answers.