It's a good idea to pace yourself, especially as a newbie. Characters are some of the hardest things to do, and it's normaly not very productive to try to start with them too soon.

If I remember correctly, I didn't start on my first character until after a good 4 or 5 months or so of 5 hour a day classes. I might not say you'd have to wait that long, but you want to get a good understanding of the modeling tools available before biting off too much more than you can chew.