Ah, somebody else interested in Radio actually lives here in West Chester.
A good place to start is with an ARRL study guide, just for the book knowledge, if you already have some electronics knowledge, the technical side of things is probably second nature to you already.
Club wise these days, try contacting PARA(The Philadelphia Area Repeater Association)
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para.buxcom.net/ they have quite a few repeaters in the immediate West Chester / Chester County area, and could best to point you to local VEC testing sessions.
You could also try the Marple Newtown Amateur Radio Club:
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www.mnarc.org/And there is also the local Chester County ARES / RACES group:
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www.w3eoc.org/(meetings at the County Government Services Center @ 601 Westtown Road).
Ther are quite a few more local Ham clubs/Groups to mention, but it's still to early in the morning for my brain to function properly(I need Caffeine badly).
Feel free to ask more questions, I am always happy to help, and I hope to see you get your license, and catch you on the air soon.