The entire goal of investing is to put as little of your own cash in as you possibly can.

I’m 23 years old and just looking to get advice on where and how to start and the things I should have in order to accomplish these goals.

Pick one or two of the things you listed in your post and take concrete steps towards those goals, and write them down somewhere, this will help. 

As long as it fits in with your cap rate goals you should be okay.

Really buying any real estate that will make you money will be good experience, but buying real estate that is closest to you final goal is the best.

We have some long-term rentals but want to scale up and feel that a couple of flips will help us reach our goals.  

Since you're guessing four years here, I'd say stay one more year and qualify for the whole thing if getting some tax-free cash is your goal.

My goal is to network with as many individuals as possible, whether that be agents, lenders, investors, etc. to build my base of trustworthy, honest professionals to bounce ideas off of and gain insight.

I have done some research into top expanding and emerging markets from PW/ULL and over the past few years Columbus has been continually growing and a hub for new migration among recent graduates and young professionals, which has contributed to my goal of working in the multifamily sector of the commercial real estate market. 

Our ultimate goal is to eventually relocate to Los Angeles and using just the little we have learned on BP so far,we have quickly come to realize that this can be achieved with REI.