I'm not sure if this is the proper area for this, but couldn't decided on a better area of the forum.

I'm in school as a CIS major and am about to learn VB and C++ this coming semester. I have a good understanding of basic Java and have started creating a game engine in VB.

I want to get ahead in my career as a programmer and want to rise to the top of those junior programmers who are recruited. I am not sure how to do this other than learn all sorts of languages.

My question is what should I do to get ahead of my peers, and get a jump on my career? The obvious thing is to do as well as I can in school, but I can and want to do more. Possibly work on open source projects? Make demo projects to show at interviews?

It would be great to get some advice from people who are in the trenches now and could help with some career advice.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions.