I will try my hand at a couple projects in the near future. I am surrounded by my peers, and some of the smartest people that can complement my skill set and I plan to take full advantage of that. I haven't been here long but I am also going to go out in search of clubs and organizations with interests the same as my own. Who knows maybe I'll even found my own.
It looks like it comes down to time. I have to give it time to start taking classes that relate to my career. Right now it feels like a continuation of high school, but I can see that further down the line that will change. I guess its just frustrating going through this mundane cycle of freshman college life. Maybe its the perfect time to start my side project.
You get results out of everything in proportion to what you put in. Take the general education classes and make them as interesting as you can. Learn as much as you can. Not everything must be specialization in your major.
Anecdote: when I was an Undergraduate EE one of my classmates complained to my English lit professor about all the "stupid humanities classes" we were required to take. Prof thought for a second and then said, "there are two good reasons for this. First, most of you are engineering students and you need to learn that not all problems can be solved through technology or at all. Studying literature is an excellent way to understand this. Second, when you're an engineer in industry and you walk up to that cute young lady at a cocktail party, you probably want to have something more interesting to talk to her about than circuitry and electronics."
Twenty years or so since graduation and I still agree with him on both counts!
Thanks mbrubeck and HN!
College is also a great place to do programming or business projects in your free time, and to find other people to do them with. You may never have as easy a time meeting new people or spending time on personal projects as you do right now. It might cut into your partying and fraternity activities, but dropping out to join the workforce would do that too.
Opportunities will be hard to find at first, and you have to expect some amount of rejection. Keep in mind that your coursework will become more self-directed and interesting with each new year of school. Some opportunities that are closed to you now will be open later if you make sure you're aware and ready for them.
As long as you're not planning to go to grad school, and not in danger of failing, ignore your grades and instead optimize your learning. For the first time in your life, GPA might not matter ever again. Grades can be useful feedback for you, but remember that in ten years no one will care if you got a C- in freshman chemistry. (Some job applications do ask for your GPA, but in the startup world this is rare.) Regardless of how it affects your grades, spend more time on the lectures/homework/reading/activities that actually teach you things and less on busywork or stuff you already know. It's your responsibility to decide whether it's better to skip lecture and learn the material on your own.