Read as much as you can and try out things yourself as much as possible. Offer to fix your friend's computer or if they have some virus. Basic troubleshooting is very simple and can be done by reading through forums, guides, different company's FAQ. Once you get the hang of that, offer to volunteer at some non-profit by managing their IT several hours a week. Don't take on tasks that are too complex. A lot of companies will count your volunteer work as actual IT experience and you can get your foot in the door. The other way to get your foot in the door is to take undesireable help desk jobs such as graveyard shifts.
I started off by messing around with DOS machines and then moved onto Windows 95. When I first got my Win 95 machine, I pretty much played with every setting you can imagine. I used hyper terminal to exchange 'instant messages' with my geek friend lol. You can't read what you type but can read what they write.
Throughout college, I worked in IT related jobs. Those are the easiest jobs to get as they don't require you to have experience and will train you. I've worked in Mac computer labs and was IT support for my school's library.
Once I graduated college, my first job was a job from hell. Low pay, rotating shift including graveyard. I found a better pay administrative role in a network company.
Fast forward 11 years, I am now the global head of the network engineering team managing some 200 engineers. Needless to say, the pay is very nice.
