Good for you and good luck on your welding school. I worked in a black iron fabrication shop for a good many of years until the steel mills started tanking again in the late 90's early 2000"s. I had all my certs for overhead, horizontal/vertical welding. I prided myself in being able to burn stick. Anyone can mig weld with practice but welding with a stick will keep you employed. I was a journeyman lay out guy and we had lower paid labor as the welders, but when a job called for stick welding there was only a handful of us that could burn rod. Most important thing in welding with rod is reading your slag puddle.
For welding, get a good auto darkening hood with adjustable lens shades. Then a good set of leather sleeves that go over your shoulder for any overhead/vertical welding. With a your certs, you don't want to stop a weld bead because you got a blob of metal/slag burning a hole in your arm. Next, wear safety glasses when chipping hot flux/slag off your weld. That slag has a habit of finding your face and searing into your skin.