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I started at age 19 and next year will be my 5th year. This is the absolute best "hobby"/"part-time career" I could ever imagine. I got lucky and was asked to be the full-time umpire on a very experienced crew my second year. It really is about who you know and the connections you make, so if you get the chance introduce yourself to everybody....don't underestimate the importance of networking!!
Being a young official can be challenging because people either assume you don't know the rules well or don't trust you because of inexperience. I would say it is more challenging to start at this young of age, rather than somebody starting at age 30 or so, because of that reason. All you can do is prove yourself game after game and the respect will come from other officials---this really applies to people of all ages!
For rule knowledge start with Rule 2 and read the definitions over and over. Then get into the other rules and read these forums for situations and philosophy stuff almost daily. Doing this has helped me so much. Best of luck!
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