Where do you rate yourself on the novice to expert scale and why? Show visual examples to support your argument

This seems like a very relevant principle to chose as at University we are going through a process of learning, evaluating and improving for 3 years hoping to be refined and accomplished at the end.
I have not been in an education system for 5 years or more so I am very aware that I lacked some of the ingrained skills in writing and most crucially technology.My willingness to learn and theoretical work is good and I am very happy with some of my work, however I am often to be found wasting valuable energy fretting over my camera or completely lost at a Mac/Photo shop or any other design program.  

As a photographer there is a line to be drawn between the quality of the image s you take and your ability in post production. They are two separate skills although they are intrinsically tied whether through a darkroom or a computer. I had had very little formal training in either so there has been a lot to take on board last term as well as a lot of bad habits to drop.(Rarely using a tripod, not looking after my camera, disorganised filing of images, improper use of photo shop, not taking enough pictures, not shooting in RAW)....
For my image content and style, also depth and story I would say I was around a 'Fully acceptable standard achieved routinely' however sometimes as far as technical quality/understanding goes it may be more of a 'fit for purpose though may lack refinement'.
The problems I was encountering with focus, as you can see in the two photographs of mine above, were hopefully due to my old camera which I have been using for seven years or so. I just bought a new camera which I haven't had much chance to use but it seems that I am getting much sharper results already. So I would like to say that my standard and score would go up after using my new equipment for a while. The picture below was taken with my new camera and I can see the improvement in tone and sharpness straight away. I always seem to be capturing a orange tone with my old camera.

I am a real mix between beginner and proficient having read the explanations. It really depends on what aspect of my work one is looking at but my overall goal is to round all my skills into the proficient category by the second year and expert by the third or somewhere between the two.  I believe true expertise would come through experience.