I've just completed my first project as an independent contractor and it feels great! Even managed to deliver well before the deadline after suffering some setbacks time-wise (although it did involve some late nights/early mornings).
Without going into detail, the project allowed me to gain some experience in developing for Windows Compact Edition, some networking, creating a multi-threaded user interface, and integrating with Quickbooks (financial accounting software). I also worked with SQLite for the first time, and although I never did manage to find a proper O/R mapper to use, I was quite impressed with its performance and ease of use.
Mental note: next time do better with keeping the specs and unit tests up to date!!