Well, I basically understand how to use pointers, but not how best to use them in order to do better programming.

What are good projects or problems to resolve involving the use of pointers so I can understand them better?

Manipulating large amounts of data in memory is where pointers really shine. 

Passing a large object by reference is equivalent to just passing along a plain old number. You can manipulate the needed parts directly as opposed to copying an object, altering it, then passing back the copy to be put in place of the original.
