Many if not most people these days cram and pass the Amateur Extra exam but they don't remember a thing about the test or can't explain anything technical about any topic on the test. That's sad but its how the world works these days.
For me amateur radio drew me in because I already had an interest in electronics, especially RF and also worked in the 2-way radio business well before applying for an amateur license. I really wish more hams would practice and learn the art rather than just buy a radio and become an appliance operator sometimes needing a friend to come show them what all the buttons do on the radio.
I would highly recommend hooking up with a mentor (Elmer in ham talk) and have them download lots of radio and antenna stuff into your head and I believe you will get much more out of the hobby experimenting and having fun.
All that experimenting and building ham stuff also had a huge positive impact on my technical career and several of my ham radio mentors helped me on some projects while working at DirecTV with one leading to my name on several patents. Oops, the cats out of the bag now! Ah, well, kudos to my friends Mitch, Chip and especially Bart, now SK.
