Technical side of things: Pick up an open source project that you like and start contributing. Get involved in competitions through the university if you can, t

Technical side of things: Pick up an open source project that you like and start contributing. Get involved in competitions through the university if you can, there should be plenty. Learn to work as part of the team, try to affect the team in a positive way, learn to accept others. "Google summer of code" is something I would consider at this stage. Most important: Focus on soft-skills. Working in CS will inevitably make you socially awkward, try to fight this trend early. Focus on creating a network, that will be your future safety net when searching career opportunities. Make a habit of meeting ppl and keeping in touch. Avoid social media for the sake of _social media_. Try to train yourself to focus for long stretches of time to a single thing e.g. reading "big books" is become an arcane art these days. Study social sciences, literature and art in your free time. Your background is giving you a head-start. Pick-up books, read magazines. Learn how connect, strike conversations, how to talk to ppl on the opposing political spectrum. That will make you able to read signals and view the world with empathy. Expressing your opinions without upsetting the other party. Learn the art of public-speaking. Learn a music instrument. The guitar is the most obvious choice, but find something you like. There are many hobbies out there, but music and dancing, especially folklores, have the added value. Writing code is a good skill to have, but communicating effectively, connecting with peers and non-peers and having a positive world-view are traits that are hard to find amongst engineers. Finally, since you're starting your career now, try to diversify! We live in a day and age that is highly unlikely we'll have "one career", strictly speaking. From personal experience, a diversified profile makes you "look smart" and sets you apart from the crowd.