Hello Everyone - Accounting major

Hey everybody, I'm a new monkey on Wall Street Oasis! I've been a lurker here for a while... and I've decided to make an account.

I'm currently an accounting major at a private school with a 3.2 GPA. I'm certain that we're not a target school for finance/banking, but we do attract recruiters for accounting pretty well.

With that said, I've become very interested in finance for a number of reasons. First of all, it seems to me that finance is very forward looking, while accounting is more oriented towards past events. Also, while accounting regulations are necessary, it seems that the reason that accountants are in demand is because they have immense knowledge of regulations... it kind of irks me that the reason I'll be valued by a business is because I can help them with compliance.

Another reason I have been looking into finance is because one of my best friend's dad is an investment banker, and he seems like he loves what he does. He is the president of a small firm that does municipal finance. He always seems very interested in how I'm doing in school and what I'm studying. When I was set on studying economics, he told me to read up on the Austrian school of economics, which he is a proponent of. Sometimes I'll call him up and he'll give me some advice on memorizing stuff for speeches, studying, etc. He is certainly a role model to me.

After reading about Austrian economics, I became a huge proponent of the free market. Any healthy economy needs a quality system of allocating capital. If I could spend my life moving capital to where it is most valued, and perhaps make some money doing it, I would be absolutely fulfilled.

With all of that said, I'm obviously not a competitive candidate for the world of finance, which I understand is extremely competitive. I'm really here to ask all of you how I can begin to differentiate myself. I want to do as much research as I can before asking you guys pointless questions, so could you point me to some things:

1. Is there a summary somewhere of all the areas of finance?
2. What is the first book I should read about finance/investing/banking?
3. There are many acronyms on this website (BB, HF, PWM, etc.). Is there a guide somewhere on all these acronyms?
4. If there is any general roadmap, so to speak, for students interested in finance careers, where could I find that?
5. Any general advice would also be appreciated

After I do some research, I'll read everything I can, and if I'm set on finance, I'll develop a plan! And then I'll ask you guys for some more specific advice.

If you read all of this thank you very much. I am definitely going to stick around here and learn from you guys!