Hello rls002 and welcome to SRP!

You need to get your razor looked at right away.
I was mentoring a guy that had bought a new AOS razor. They told him that the razor was shave ready when he bought it. After his first attempt to shave, his face looked like he had been attacked by a mad cat. When I looked at his razor, it was about as far from shave ready as if gets. The edge was absolutely horrible. Lesson learned, they don't know how to hone at the mall and will give you a line of b.s. just to make the sale. I honed his razor for him while he watched and he immediately shaved with it only to find the difference was stunning.
Find someone with a good reputation and get the razor honed properly. Our founder, Lynn, at SRD is the best of the best and you would be well served to send it to him.
Anyway, good luck on your shaving journey. Watch Lynn's video and others, practice strokes that you think might work for you with a butter knife and stay in your comfort zone. A little practice and some patience will reap great rewards.

Good luck!

Pete <:-}