Enlighten me, /prog/

I'm still in high school and thinking of Programming as a career path. Is it a good or a bad idea? If so, what do you recommend?

ok i just finished first year comp sci stuff, and i am thinking of bioinformatics as a Career path.  All we've done in class is Java, and basic shit like looping, recursion, and stacks.

How do I learn C on my own, and what kinds of stuff should I try programming to develop better programming practice. Is there a comprehensive book/site out there that will help me learn both?