Where do I begin with the challenges? Animation is a difficult, labor-intensive, detail-focused craft. Unlike with graphics where sometimes the best method is to prototype and iterate and spend a majority of time in the ideate stage, animation requires you to understand your end goal, and iterate on that as you work, even though sometimes hours of work must be scrapped to achieve a better result.
Animation taught me that the best way to learn is by doing. I supplemented what I was taught through reading and watching resources, but ultimately you have to spend the time creating, making mistakes, and refining in order to go forward.