You have to get in there and do it.

Like seriously, you just do it.

Programming, it's a puzzle, correction it's 90% puzzle 10% bitchwork. But it's always changing there are always new things that employers are going to require you learn. How do you learn it? You do it!

If you realize coding is what you want to do, you are going to start from the basics, learning if statements, while loops, the Java libraries. You'll spend years in theoretical classes, math classes and programming classes. If you are good enough to keep programming along side your academic career for fun, not just for school projects, you are going to get really good at Java.

Then you're going to hit the working world and your employer is going to require you to know some fancy new framework, but this time you don't get years to master it.

You get a week.

You better hope that you retained all of that theory and you know Java well enough to to draw connections between what you know and what you have to learn, or else you're in deep shit.

So in order to prevent yourself from being in that situation you need to learn, and you need to be engaged, you need to want it. You need to want to program.

So if you want it, crack open that textbook of yours right now, and start reading. DO every example they give until you know that concept by heart. Them move onto the next one. Try to draw connections between concepts. Ask questions, try to reason them out and if you fail to do so look online for help. But MOST importantly you need to code. You need to re invent the wheel so that you understanf how the wheel works, and then you can use the wheel to build your car. Find projects ideas, any project ideas, start small make a linked list, the expand it, make it a sorted linked list. Then learn why you would rather use a dynamic array instead.

Do this as much as you mentally can handle (think about how its going to be 8 hours a day minimum when you're working) and then you will really understand programming and be ready for the real world.