Time is the most important thing we have yet we waste it constantly. That doesn't make much sense now does it?
Starting out you should consider these 3 steps. Make sure you make enough money each month, get your bills in check (make your monthly budget affordable) and make sure you're saving enough each month.
Once you have enough saved up I'd recommend learning as much as you can about stocks or real estate (if you're going to school for economics or finance you'll learn quite a bit about stocks) don't make the mistake most of us young folks make which is moving without thinking and then paying the price. It's easy to lose money in any one of these investments if you don't know what you're doing so put in the time to do you're homework and the profits will come.
All too often I see people my age wasting money on ridiculous things to the point where they're putting themselves in debt for thousands of dollars. No matter how you want to slice it that's ridiculous. So be a contrarian, and build your wealth rather then waste it and start as early as possible.
There's a reason why there's a 1% and a 99% . Most people do things the same way and others do things their own way. You tell me which side you would rather be.