CompuServe Messages

I am a college freshman at Harvard, out here on the East Coast. I have always had a vivid fascination for both computers and special effects, so 3D animation seemed a logical field to get into. I work for my school's computer magizine, and so was able to obtain a copy of 3dS to review, and in doing so became amazed at the possibilities. I have several questions I hope you guys can answer. 1) What is a "resonable" system. I have a 386/33 with a math coprocessor, and only 4mb of ram. I know I have to upgrade, but to how much? Also, I have a 120 mb hard drive. 2) I'm currently trying very hard to find a job this summer working in the visual effects field, ideally programming graphic workstations. I've been told I should learn Alias and Wavefront. Any ideas how I can learn these to get the experience, considering my school doesn't have a state of the art graphics facility? 3) Does anyone know of any summer internships (paid/unpaid) in either NY (where I live) or California (where I'd like to spend my summer? 4) Finally, does anyone have any advice/stories about how you got into the animation field? Reading through the letters, I get excited about the prospects. Thanks in advance for any help!!!