I guess my question is, what pointers do you have for a 21 year old newbe,
who lives in dark location in Maryland.

Thank you in advance

My suggestions:

1. Don't focus on observing goals, focus on enjoying observing. Get out and
explore the night sky and see what you can see. When you find something neat,
look at it and try to figure out what other people call it.

2. If you don't have any Astro software, consider downloading Cartes du Ciel.
This is a top notch program that can print chart and help you find you way
around the heavens. www.astrosurf.com/astropc

Its free and worth a whole lot more IMHO.

3. If you don't have some star charts, I suggest buying Orion's Deep Map 600.
Less than $15 and lots of interesting targets.

jon