Here are my first couple finished practice pieces.
First, the game console!
(I realize now that the light on the front is a bit blown out.
My focus is to learn mesh modeling to output to a 3D printer.
Lighting and rendering aren't so central to my goals.
So I decided not to go back to correct the lighting this time.)
Then the sci-fi crate from the mesh modeling fundamentals course. 
Decided to place a few of these for a little scene.
I'm already enjoying adding my new mesh modeling skills to my art background.
Blender is quite powerful.
It offers tons of possibilities for making choices to make objects that really feel alive.
Even for simple objects like these.
This kind of tinkering gave my crates proportions that are a bit different from the tutorial.