(I'm about to embark on this quest after 4- 5 months of study...)

This is supposedly to reimburse the landlord (that would be me) in the event that he puts alot of work into studying an applicant, only to have them say "Oh, I found something elsewhere, nevermind".However, this deposit has ended up being very awkward in my case. 

If you just want to invest in real estate, you don't need to get a license.If you are interested in working in real estate and desire to get a license, you will want to do some studying on the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission's website to learn the process for obtaining a license.

So I have been studying some aspects of REI for the past couple of years but I am struggling trying to get my foot in the door.

I'd suggest finding your niche and studying that.

Im still studying the books that i bought on land trust from Randy.

Then get some actual deals from the MLS and loopnet to use as case studies.  

I will be studying the forum discussions to gain more knowledge into real estate investing. 

I got the Purchase And Sales Agreement from a home study course.

We are preparing to sell our house this summer and will likely stay with family in the interim while we study local markets and learn from professionals.