In schematic diagrams, resistor symbols are sometimes used to illustrate any general type
of device in a circuit doing something useful with electrical energy. Any non-specific electrical
device is generally called a load, so if you see a schematic diagram showing a resistor symbol
labeled ”load,” especially in a tutorial circuit diagram explaining some concept unrelated to the
actual use of electrical power, that symbol may just be a kind of shorthand representation of
something else more practical than a resistor.