

Maybe the academy is just a terrible educational institution. Basically all we see of it is weird mind games, like simulated terrorist attacks and tests you automatically fail… Maybe Picard thought of the gardener as a mentor because he was the only adult there not fucking with him.
Well with Data it’s different, they didn’t know how to make a copy of him, only papa did and it took him most of a lifetime.
Transporter shenanigans are, admittedly, just something you gotta hand-wave.