I wish I was stacking when I was 17...lol. I'd be pretty loaded right now.
Anyway, I think you have the right perspective. You have to think long term. Months ago, people where writing that silver would go to $100. Now people are writing it will drop below $10.
If you are in this for the long term, you will do great. None of the underlying economic/financial problems of the past 10 years have been addressed. TPTB just used cheap money to paper over them.
Stacking is good, but be sure to diversify. Silver is nice, cheap, and has potential for big swings, but my opinion, gold is better in the long term and is a safer bet. Gold is not a commodity. Gold is money. While we in the West have forgotten this, in many places in the World (Asia, South Asia), people have not.
Finally, even more important then stacking, whatever you do, do NOT take on massive amounts of debt. Taking on some debt to get an education is fine, but do not take on $100k+ in debt to get a liberal arts or english degree. You will NOT find a decent job. Do not become a debt slave.
Good luck everyone!