I was in the same position a few years ago. My advice is to build as much as you can; open-source/your own projects, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that

I was in the same position a few years ago. My advice is to build as much as you can; open-source/your own projects, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that the stuff you build should be interesting to you. You will be more motivated if its stuff you enjoy and you will become a better programmer