I agree with Joi u that pointers and references are nothing to do with oops but the challange is awkword. Because if a person want he can choose any language that support OOPS concepts to begin his career with OOPs no matter whether it is Java or C++. The concept remain same for all OO Languages just the syntex and will change. So the main thing is to learn the concept the language comes second. A programmer can do anything impossible.

Here I agree with Leyland "It doesn't matter where you start as long and you are prepared to pay the price and stick with it."

To learn OOPS or any technology what u need is a lot of efforts and dedication.

All the best

punkaj