You are making a fantastic choice starting so early. 

First I would let them know that "rent" is not their choice to decide who gets paid when and how.

But I do know lease options quite well, and I will tell you that for the typical new investor, sandwich leases are not the strategy of choice. 

You've got a couple of choices @Jessica Pfann. 

I’m looking to stop making excuses and want to start exposing myself to real estate in some manner to better understand it, make some extra money while doing so, and build some connections that will be mutually beneficial over time as I gain more experience. 

There are lots of choices, but that's the first big split that's necessary to look at first before deeming into different options.

Losing a couple grand because you were ignorant about something and made a bad choice is one thing but losing your home to scheme is another. 

Develop a plan and start moving forward one step at a time.You can find a lot (I mean a lot) of posts on BiggerPockets about the pros and cons of getting a real estate license and whether or not its beneficial to your investing. 

Approximately 0.00% of my clients with $3,000,000 or $5,000,000 in personal mortgage debt have the day-job income to support it, half of them had a conversation with me where I went over what choice to pick for Schedule E in cases where your CPA gives you a choice between a few options that are all allowed by the tax code.If you are buying cashflow positive real estate, your DTI will actually go down over time.

He explains this choice gives a higher chance of getting an offer accepted.I have played around with the numbers (i.e. full list price with seller contributing full closing costs vs. lower list price and seller contributing less closing costs).