RE: fighting the wind..
Lots of answers here,but you didnt say exactly what you were having the most trouble with.
I learned to fly with wind 5-15 didn't have much choice were i live. The main trouble i had was it was hard banking that, high wing, high dihedral trainer.
If you havn't already,learn to use that rudder, its more difficult to bank a high wing in the wind using only ailerons.
applying rudder will make it much easier to turn, and also to land in cross winds.
when landing with a cross wind, keep the nose of the plane pointed into the wind, making ajustments to stay lined up on
the runway, flare as usual, then straighten out on the runway just before landing.