I'm young but want to do something serious photography-related

[Polyphony]

How many people do you know that are professional photographers? That is clue #1 that you should go to college and be an accountant.

Join the military as a photographer when you graduate. Yes they have a job title as such. Get your resume padded and learn about the business prospects of photographers. Then go to college on the GI bill to be an accountant.

Live in a flop house, eat scraps, beg borrow or steal any kind of miserable low paying photo gig and over many years of paying dues and maybe find yourself as an iconic professional photographer that we all imagine in our fantasies. Then when your kids are grown (that you waited to have until you had something going - in your 50s) Send them to college to be accountants.

case study:

Program Description: National Geographic Magazine photographer Joel Sartore shoots in some of the most exotic locales on earth, but often in wretched conditions for weeks on end, and always under pressure to produce pictures worthy of publication in a legendary magazine. A devoted husband and father of three, he often wonders if it's the best job in the world or the worst.

"At Close Range with National Geographic" provides a rare glimpse of the havoc a tough, dangerous job can create for one's personal life, especially for someone like Joel Sartore.

On the job, Sartore has been chased by bears, wolves, alligators and musk oxen.
"You have to be really patient," says Sartore. "If I weren't Type A and very obsessive compulsive, there's no way I'd do this. I don't think you could stand it!"

"At Close Range" is the story of a remarkable, funny, internationally-acclaimed photographer...

At Close Range with National Geographic: At Close Range with National Geographic TV Programs on Iowa Public Television

This is the long version of what I said.

Side note: Entering the military as a photographer is EXTREMELY difficult. There are so few of them and they are not in much demand at all.