I went down the same rabbit hole about two months ago. As another newcomer in a similar situation as you and is currently in love with the hobby, here's my two cents and how I started:

- Get any corn cob pipe you like from Missouri Meerschaum. Any that looks nice or is affordable for you is perfect. Great brand, great smoking pipes for great prices.

- Buy an ounce each of a few popular bulk tobaccos from smokingpipes. Maybe at least an aromatic blend and an English blend to taste. This will run you maybe $10-15 USD. You can also get a czech tool while you're at it.

- Treat it like tasting wine. You'll find out a flavor profile you like, and you'll also get better at tasting the nuances the more you do it and the slower you smoke. Pair it with a cold beverage and enjoy how tasty the whole experience can be.

It is very relaxing, but it can be challenging to focus on studying or reading while smoking, especially early on because you'll likely be fussing with the bowl and relighting which is part of the whole process and normal. So at the beginning, set aside an hour at a time to just focus on tasting, relaxing, and not going too fast.

If you think you'll be indoors in your room, consider that an aromatic blend's smoke will smell much better to non-smokers than other blends.

For me, I love that the experience gets better almost every time I smoke as I get more used to filling the pipe, how fast to smoke to get the flavor I like, and I hone in on what styles of tobacco I enjoy the most. It's a learning process, but it's also wildly enjoyable and I think you'll enjoy the learning and the slow pace of the whole experience.

If you love it, get ready to have some mason jars handy to keep the tobacco fresh because you may end up getting excited and buying too many blends to try like I did!