On my eighth solo flight, I finished the preflight of the 
C-152 and checked the Watsonville AWOS - "few clouds at 1700, 
5 knot winds." I took off and climbed south on a left 45 for 
airwork over the beach.  Forward visibility of the beach 
seemed hazy, but I continued.
  Within a few seconds, visibility turned to zero.  I fixated 
on the AI until I calmed down, then I started a left, standard 
rate turn.  I forgot to check my initial heading or start a 
timer, so I stopped the turn, disoriented.  The ocean was west 
(low terrain), so I turned left to 270.  I waited a minute, 
then realized I was still climbing. 
  I leveled off, then decided to descend.  My power was too high 
on the descent, and I was picking up speed.  I fought the
impulse to dive (get me out!), pulled the power back, and tried 
to keep the AI level.  Eventually I descended safely out of the 
overcast cloud layer over the beach at 1500 feet.
  I had no weather brief for the local area (just the AWOS), 
and had climbed into the overcast layer to the south.  I failed 
to level out or make a 180 turn when the visibility initially 
worsened.  Since I knew the local terrain, I made the right 
decisions to turn and to descend.  
  At the time of the incident I had 2.3 hours of simulated 
instruments in 6 sessions, including .7 in the previous two days.  
This basic IFR training allowed me to survive the flight.