While it's true that there a wide number of applications, and Aluminum is theoretically perpetually recyclable, there is still a small problem. When an alloy is formed and elements added to pure Al they are exceptionally difficult to remove. This means that for alloy-specific applications the recycled 'aluminum' must have extra elements added to create the alloy desired.
With continued recycling [over a long period of time] there is concern that alloys will converge upon a final aluminum alloy and we will no longer be able to create new application specific alloys.
When you say "Student" what do you mean? High-School? College? (Under)Grad? Lower Ed?
If you're in college try checking around for intro web development spots or even student repair/IT work. While doing so learn how to code. This is under the assumption you want to learn more about computers and coding; I'm not positive exactly what track you're looking for under "learn new things."
You should be able to install g-apps from .apk - It's possible to do on other android devices and unless amazon did something curious to the Fire it shouldn't be any different. There are gmail, calendar and other google apks floating around that you could use.
With continued recycling [over a long period of time] there is concern that alloys will converge upon a final aluminum alloy and we will no longer be able to create new application specific alloys.