I also use blender, which has a reputation of being difficult to learn. I've used it infrequently for about 5 years, and I often learn a new way to make my job easier each time.
The blender communities my sibling mentioned are a great kicking off point with some high quality tutorials and resources. The blender wiki is also decent, but unless it has been updated recently, I tend to find it out if date. There are also tons of tutorials for learning the basics on YouTube.
Without having taken a 3D modeling course, I would say that following tutorials that teach both using the tool (blender, 3DS, Maya) and making basic models is a good place to start. From there, find tutorials to accomplish tasks that interest you: animation, texturing, organic modeling, rendering, etc.
The blender communities my sibling mentioned are a great kicking off point with some high quality tutorials and resources. The blender wiki is also decent, but unless it has been updated recently, I tend to find it out if date. There are also tons of tutorials for learning the basics on YouTube.
Without having taken a 3D modeling course, I would say that following tutorials that teach both using the tool (blender, 3DS, Maya) and making basic models is a good place to start. From there, find tutorials to accomplish tasks that interest you: animation, texturing, organic modeling, rendering, etc.