"And during my college, at the end of the junior year I worked in a mine"

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and developer. He was best understood for his funny creation animations depicting complex devices that perform basic tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. In this quote, he is assessing his college experience and the work he did during his junior year. He mentions that he operated in a mine, which likely describes a coal mine or other kind of mining operation. This experience most likely offered him with a distinct point of view on the world and the way things work, which he later on utilized to create his famous creation animations. Operating in a mine likewise most likely offered him a higher gratitude for the effort and devotion of miners, which he may have integrated into his animations. Overall, this quote reveals the significance of Rube Goldberg's college experience and the effect it had on his later work.