Welcome to ThePhotoForum, Taylor, and congratulations to graduating!
Congrats too to the nice present you got.
Now I think you'll best go to a book store and explore what books they have on photography. There must be tons out there of all sizes, thickness and price range, and even the thinner ones will already tell you most about aperture, exposure, composition and focus length.
I found one
here that is on the pricey side but might be really good for an aspiring landscape and nature photographer. I have the National Geographic Photoguide on DVD (produced in Italy, I am not sure it is available in the States?), and if that is anything to go by, the book cannot be bad!!
Reading a bit should be a good start.
After that (or even along with that) it is learning by doing, I should say. Do some test photos, post them here and get yourself into a nice little conversation about them, and you may well also get a couple of very useful hints, tips and tricks here.