Can't get the message

I had some very strong dream images that have lingered with me throughout today. Dream experts recommend keeping a dream diary - I've done it at times, not keeping one for a very long time, and not keeping one at this time. I suppose I should begin - again - with more discipline. I have been dreaming a great deal lately, with a great deal of symbolism. The spirit guides, my subconscious mind, the ethers or the "all" ...are trying to tell me something. I suppose if I were keeping a dream diary, last night's dream images would probably be better retained.
I dreamt I was at school - a college or university, i think. I was studying a manual, or workbook of sorts. I had missed the exam, and was cramming with anxiety, and began searching for the professor to plead my case for a make-up. I walked the crowded halls, found myself outside on the steps. I continued down to the lawn, to see my youngest brother's car parked on the grass. I walked to the car, looked inside to see it was empty, and was puzzled by its presence.
I was handed a newspaper, and was asked to read. I opened the page to a series of advertisements of second hand automobiles for sale. My listening audience consisted of the person (unknown in the waking state) who had given me the newspaper, and my two daughters. I read the headers of the ads, which were in a sort of cryptic code or icons.

That is the extent of what i remember. I puzzled over those images all day, to now, with no real grasp to its meaning. School, tests, teachers, automobiles, newspapers... all powerful dream images.. There's some message I'm suppose to get.....