wjyates, the important part is you keep learning. Practice all you'd like doing anything you'd like, but don't replace that with complete disregard of theory. It is upon yourself to educate yourself in what other people have learned over the years, and even more important that you brush up on those forgotten skills from highschool and the scientific method. Before you try to build something look up what other peoples' experiances have been, before you undertake a project, research the facts the fictions and the possibilities, and if you don't like them don't let that stop you, but don't try to be Baron Munchausen and hoist yourself up to the moon on your own bootstraps =)
You have a week to learn in your free time, whatever that may be.