jarrellebarton,

I do not think it would be difficult for you at your age to reach and memorize a large number of Chinese characters, along with this site i am subscribed to skritter, and using it makes learning hanzi fun and time efficient, there are some skritters who have done 1000 chars in a year, some have done it in a month. try it is free for the first two weeks, also take a look at learning chinese characters from tuttle or remembering simplified hanzi "Heisig & Richardson". good luck in your endeavor