code: def _load_sym(sym, logger=logging):
      
      if isinstance(sym, str):  # sym is a symbol file path
          cur_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
          symbol_file_path = os.path.join(cur_path, sym)
          logger.info('Loading symbol from file %s' % symbol_file_path)
          return sym_load(symbol_file_path)
      elif isinstance(sym, Symbol):
          return sym
      else:
          raise ValueError('_load_sym only accepts Symbol or path to the symbol file,'
                           ' while received type %s' % str(type(sym)))
docs: Given a str as a path the symbol .json file or a symbol, returns a Symbol object.