NMAC BTWN A STUDENT PLT ON FINAL IN A LOW WING SEL SMA AND A SEL CESSNA MAKING GAR.

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I AM A STUDENT PLT WITH APPROX 58 HRS TIME. I APCHED REDDING MUNI (RDD); A CLASS D ARPT; WHILE ON AN INSTRUCTOR-ENDORSED 3-LEG XCOUNTRY FLT; AT TIME AND DATE NOTED. APPROX 10-12 NM FROM THE ARPT I CONTACTED REDDING TWR; AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO ENTER R DOWNWIND PATTERN TO LAND RWY 34. UPON ENTERING PATTERN; I NOTIFIED TWR OF MY POS; AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO 'LAND FOLLOWING CESSNA.' I HAD NO VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE OTHER PLANE; ALTHOUGH I COULD HEAR TWR TALKING TO CESSNA OVER THE RADIO. I MADE THE (MISTAKEN) ASSUMPTION THAT CESSNA WAS WELL AHEAD OF ME; AND PROBABLY ON FINAL FOR LNDG TO RWY 34. I ANNOUNCED TO TWR AS I TURNED R BASE AND FINAL. I WAS ALSO CAREFUL TO VISUALLY SCAN BEFORE I MADE MY TURNS; AND I STILL COULD NOT SEE ANY OTHER TFC. WHILE ON FINAL I HEARD RADIO COM BTWN CESSNA AND TWR; AND I NOTICED CESSNA AT ABOUT 11 O'CLOCK POS; APPROX 100 FT ABOVE MY POS. THE CESSNA WAS IN L TFC FOR RWY 34; HAD ALREADY SEEN ME; AND WAS MAKING A GAR. TWR ACKNOWLEDGED GAR WITH CESSNA; THEN CONTACTED ME AND SCOLDED ME FOR NOT FOLLOWING CESSNA AS INSTRUCTED. I CONFESSED MY INEXPERIENCE AND APOLOGIZED PROFUSELY; BOTH TO THE TWR AS WELL AS THE CESSNA. I ASSURED BOTH THAT MY ACTIONS WERE UNINTENTIONAL. I LANDED UNEVENTFULLY; AND FOLLOWED FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS TO TAXI OFF RWY. I REQUESTED TO TAXI AND PARK AT FBO RAMP; WHICH I DID. THERE WERE NO FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FROM TWR. AFTER TAKING A BREAK FOR 20 MINS OR SO; I DEPARTED ARPT UNEVENTFULLY; FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS FROM GND CTL AND TWR. AFTER RETURNING TO MY ARPT OF ORIGIN (ALTURAS); I DISCUSSED THIS INCIDENT WITH MY INSTRUCTOR. I MADE AN ERROR IN ASSUMING THAT THE CESSNA WAS WELL AHEAD OF ME. I WAS UNCLR AS TO THE CESSNA'S POS AND OTHERWISE UNABLE TO MAKE VISUAL CONTACT; FOR WHATEVER REASON. I WAS PROBABLY (AND MISTAKENLY) REASSURED BY THE LACK OF RESPONSE FROM THE TWR AS I ANNOUNCED MY TURNS TO BASE AND THEN TO FINAL. I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THE CESSNA WAS IN A L-HAND PATTERN FOR THE SAME RWY; ALTHOUGH A MORE EXPERIENCED PLT WOULD HAVE PROBABLY GLEANED THIS INFO FROM THE RADIO EXCHANGES BTWN THE CESSNA AND THE TWR. I WAS FOCUSING TOO MUCH ON SETTING-UP FOR MY OWN LNDG. IN HINDSIGHT; I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE DILIGENT IN TRYING TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE TWR SO AS TO ASCERTAIN THE CESSNA'S EXACT POS IN RELATION TO MY OWN. MOST OF MY TRAINING HAS BEEN AT A NON-TWR ARPT (ALTURAS); AND I NEED MORE EXPERIENCE FLYING IN TWR-CTLED AIRSPACE.