in my little experience, when you try to access the variable name you are in the wrong path. Use Data::Dumper or better the non CORE module Data::Dump dd method to show up your variables.

L*

I've become too reliant on modules and want to sharpen my own coding skills.

I would say that, generally, that's a logical fallacy. Modules are simply tools. Programmers are tool-makers. When you go into a machine shop you see the machinist making tools *that don't already exist* to accomplish a specific task, not crafting a hammer on his anvil (using another hammer? where did that one come from?), or turning a drill bit on his lathe.

Learning how to select and use the existing tools (especially the ones already built into the language) is a fundamental skill for a programmer, and becoming adept at implementing such properly is every bit "sharpening your coding skills."

In my humble opinion, your time and energy would be better invested in practicing writing clean, efficient application code, using the basic toolkit you've already selected by choosing to code in Perl.