How can I learn hands on?

[Spencer Davis]

I am a college student with little money looking to get into and learn more about real estate investing. As much as I love reading, I feel you can only go so far without taking your first steps. I have looked into wholesaling and birddogging, however there are alot of legality issues. From what I have read, the only way to do it is to be an employee and be payed on a per leed basis. I feel this could work, however I would much rather be a silent partner (with less liability in the deal) and recieve a set percentage of the deal, and learn from the decisions they make. Do you think this could work? How would I find investors interested in a deal like this? Any advice on things I could do to learn more about the industry hands on for a college student would be appreciated.