newbie from chicago

[Adam Chudwin]

Greetings to all,
I have been lurking on this site for about a month and the information and generosity people have on this board is incredible. I am 23 years old living in Chicago and just graduated from a big ten school. I really don't want to join the rat race and work a corporate 9 to 5 job that has people struggling and sucking up to middle managers. If I have to for a year or so i would take one of these jobs though just to acquire knowledge to become a serious investor. I have a couple of questions. First of all, what type of job would allow me to be a part of the investment process for a company and not just having me do analytical/ excel formulas where I dont actually go out and look at properties and see how deals are done? Do companies like Grubb and Ellis allow you to do this? Secondly, I am very interested in wholesaling. Are there any so called bibles of wholesaling that can give me a step by step process of what contracts to use, how to market, etc? And last, I would love to have a mentor in the chicagoland area that I could work for, learn from, and help with your growing business. I would guarantee you I would work incredibly hard for you. Any responses would be great.Thanks a lot and continued success to everyone