I don't see why not... go for it!

To supplement your Ruby knowledge and class, I'd say take a look at Ruby code snippets from Rosetta Code[1] to get a 'feel' for what Ruby looks like in a variety of applications.

[1] http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Ruby

Just out of curiosity, what kind of class is it? Is it in-person (with classmates and lecturer) or is it a web class (like University of Reddit)? What does the curriculum look like? Is there a website we can check out?