0K the question is just trying to probe or stimulate you for any appreciation of laboratory chemistry that is beyond just the schematic pictures of atoms in molecules rearranging. And you showed that this is necessary. We are talking about this as a spectator sport for the moment, But I hope that you will have a laboratory course later.*
Before that, it would be advisable to read up whatever you have in your textbook about the
technique of organic chemistry, and also look at some videos on it, for example
which explains and illustrates reflux and distillation, both involved in the classical methods for preparation of an ester. Another reality that you will see you in the following that may have escaped is the phase separation any substantial amount of the ester and anything aqueous.
What you have in a bottle of ethyl acetate that you can buy for use as e.g. solvent, Is pure ethyl acetate. What you have instead in a reagent flask what test tube like the one you did is a mixture of all the reagents and the product (and possibly byproducts). To get the first from the second is purification.
You can find any number of videos on this reaction and purification online (YouTube). Here are some links, and they will lead you to any number of others. The third one below perhaps is best for the rationale. You will notice that they are all a little different. A notable difference is that it sounds like a good idea, as you said, to neutralise the acid after the reaction, and in most of the videos this is done with sodium carbonate or bicarbonate. In the third, he doesn't and claims that it is not necessary. It just goes to show that as Jacob Bronowski says in his book ‘The Ascent of Man’ Science is not as students get the impression a series of rigid rules for example of the handling of test tubes, but there are no rules even about the handling of test tubes that the inspired scientist that does not consciously break for some reason.
Follow the videos and particularly their rationale, and you will see there is quite a lot more to it than you thought of, but they may help you feel less of a fool when you have to do this in the laboratory.
(Includes things like knowing about things like boiling stones or which way you flow the water in the condenser). Especially as for organisational reasons quite often the laboratory practice tends to be rather uncoordinated with the theory lessons.
https://hobbychemistry.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/synthesis-of-ethyl-acetate/
https://hobbychemistry.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/synthesis-of-ethyl-acetate/://www.docbrown.info/page04/OilProducts10b.htm
Other esters
http://cosmolearning.org*(My hobbyhorse message: some laboratory chemistry is essential to scientific and general education because most of chemistry is only seen, and only happens in the laboratory. Though not advisable, you could just about get away without it in physics in that most physics has every day exemplifications that you can see around: forces, gravitation, friction, surface tension, optics of reflection and refraction and light generally, a long list including even electricity and magnetism - though here I point out that you wouldn't see very much electricity and magnetism without chemistry and, because you wouldn't have copper and iron.)
