thank you so much for everyone's input. i just want to clarify, snakes are allowed [i checked] and i was not planning on "sneaking" the snake on board, i was going to call around and see if any airlines knowingly ship snakes, i know how much bad press they already have so i would not do anything to endanger the reputation of those who ship their snakes.just putting that out there.
based on your answers it seems to me to be a wise choice to wait till i either leave college/get to maybe junior or senior year of school. bringing him to a breeder while i go back home is a great idea (i didn't know you could do that!) and if i do end up with one, i will do that rather than shipping the poor thing back and forth, the last thing i want to do is stress the little guy out!