A smokescreen is all well and good, but it wouldn't stop the force blast he's thrown at you. Unless your character knows some way of dissipating large amounts of force energy (which she doesn't, being hopeful level in the force), the attack will connect.
I just found out that exam is in a week. We're all good :3 (although my lack of calendar skills are worrying - I've managed to look past it for a whole week)
Understood, but you'll still want to know how to push and pull violently. They're essential in most lightsaber duels. Once you know how to do that with some skill we can move onto more advanced self enhancements and defences.
Training usually takes a couple of weeks to complete in a main faction, but I expect we'll be done in a couple of days (depending on how powerful you want the character to be at the end of it).