i've gone back to school for a CS degree after taking a gap year following 3 years of being in school for graphic design. i have all of my gen eds done and just finished my first two semesters, which naturally only included the most basic cs classes for freshmen, where we started learning java and loosely covered data structures (stacks, queues, bst, etc). i'm set to graduate spring 2028 and i did go into this degree with little to no coding experience.
i'm a little stressed in regards to trying to pull off an internship next summer before i graduate. i know people recommend doing personal projects as they help your chances with landing an internship, but i know at this moment i don't know enough for a solid project and am worried that i'm going to be racing against time this fall trying to learn, create and apply. this is all very new to me and it's a lot but i am trying to remind myself that i've completed all of two freshmen courses lol
this summer i do plan on teaching myself more with java so i feel more knowledgeable heading into next semester and maybe looking into front end languages as i do think that's an area i'd be most interested in as it'd apply the parts of graphic design i did enjoy. is there anything else i can do to prepare for an internship next summer or would it be better i don't worry about squeezing an internship in at all and focus on building projects and possibly landing a job that way?
thanks for the help, sorry if this is repetitive! i'm feeling very clueless at this moment