Precisely, and I did them all. Cut fingers, bolllocking for messing up the carpet, dirty gob, messy everything.
Part of growing up, and growing a pair.
Yes, I learn't a lot, from a similar process. I think you sort of have to make the mistakes, to climb the learning curve. There is not really a proper short-cut method. If you don't, the learning exercise does not get powerfully enough created in your brain.
Sometimes by messing about with things, you learn and ask questions "Why ?" does it behave in this way. Then you learn even more stuff.
Even within Electronics engineer circles there are issues. But hopefully they don't matter too much. In the 1960's, there were lots of engineers, who knew how to create circuits, with huge numbers of discrete transistors. Some of these circuits are rather amazing, even today. E.g. A very early (all transistor) Analogue Sound Synthesizer.
But these days, most people (Electronics engineers), especially younger engineers, (except ones who spend time at integrated circuit plants), don't really have the skills to easily/quickly design complicated, many transistor, circuits. Because they are so use to just using integrated circuits, such as op-amps, to do it.
I sometimes admire some of the early oscilloscopes, which may consist of a very large and complicated all transistor design, with very high voltage and bandwidth/accuracy capabilities.
These days, it would be very difficult, to get freshly designed a high performance all analogue, discrete transistor circuit.
Maybe I have not given the best of examples. But certainly some things would need advanced analogue designers, who are not very commonly available these days. Because of DSP's, op-amps and such, it usually does not matter, as circuits containing a large number of discrete transistors (only, no ICs), are rarely designed these days.