Welcome.
Good job, the Mk2 is a great first car.
Mine was a mk2 GL, 1.8 litre with 90bhp.
It was certainly more fun to drive than various company cars (mondeos and vectras) I drove at the time.
The lack of power steering only really becomes noticeable when trying to park, but you build up your arms after a while.
Stick with the Mk2 Driver, maybe mod a little, then get a GTI and transfer your mods to it.