There are a lot of really great cartoonists out there. It's nice to be thought of as one of them.
With a standard editorial cartoon, you're taking tons of information and synthesizing it down to a single bite - a single moment in time. With animated editorial cartoons, it's more storytelling.
Be happy that you're growing older, that you're maturing, that you're smarter, that you're wiser.
Student cartoonists as well as professionals should always be careful that they're not doing a cartoon that already has been done.