I started out myself editing footage from other people's work. Filmmaking takes years of experience, and even just recutting other stuff is a type of experience. I would say that if you want to move forward, you should try shooting and assembling your own reel next time, even if it's just with a cell phone camera. There are things you can learn by editing movie clips, but you'll learn more applicable skills faster if you work from scratch.
Here's a suggestion, just walk around your neighborhood, filming people, buildings, plants, transactions, whatever, and then try to cut that together in a way that tells a simple story. You could learn a great deal from just that simple process, and you'll get a lot more reactions from people from original work, allowing you to learn even more from the feedback.