Your journey has just begun though, and it's a process that should be embraced warmly. I've been passionate about photography since I was a child.
What I meant by him getting out more is studying other photographers art, the greats.
To be horribly blunt, I haven't been impressed at all. Sorry man. There were 18 year old kids at my uni who looked like they were shooting for 20 years and would still put me to shame.
I started "taking pictures" with black and white film and did my own chemical processing when I was 13 and received an award and exhibited work at the National Gallery of Victoria (my state) in Melbourne at 17. It was a knock out competition called Top Arts for the very top percentile of high school students in the state.
And I don't rate myself at all

Just do what I love and if people like it it's an added bonus

That's the way to be! Unless your life depends on it. O.o