First off, I recommend that you stay away form pre-made models. I dont hate anything more than when going up to animators during the competition to ask about how they made a particular model and their reply is "Uh... I got it from the internet. I didn't make any of the models in my video."
All right. Calm down and relax, You have a whole year to learn this program. I taught 3ds max to myself with no help from other people. You can do the same but you have to be patient it takes time. I recommend googleing "3ds max tutorials" thats how I learned some techniques. You can always email me if you have a specific problem that you can't figure out. And remember USERS REFERENCE GUIDE IS YOUR FRIEND, Use it often.
My advice pick an object in your room and create it on 3ds max. Don't pick and easy object and don't quit. By the time you finished modeling and texturing it, make it dance. If you succeed you are now past the basics and are well on your way.
Or you can have a older team member who knows the program to help you out. (one thing i wish I had

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