Where to pump skills in the professional field (Java)?

Question

Java

In general, the essence of the problem wandering in my mind has long and firmly settled there.
I started programming (like many others) with assembler, the first low-level applications (as I remember now this excitement and pleasure from creating something simple that boots in a virtual machine without an operating system and draws graphic primitives using FPU for calculations), then I fell in love with SI linux. Then everything seemed simpler, some technologies, no dispersion of attention. Deep interest in operating systems and algorithms used in them. Reverse Engineering, I remember how I suffered with the issue of a non-working keyboard interrupt handler, disassembled BIOS functions.
Then the time came, and I realized that you can create worlds using the achievements of other programmers. OOP principles, books on proper coding, books on proper templating. Thinking about how difficult it is to develop really large projects, I began to understand the essence of the existence of options for project management methodologies. It's all really interesting. I fell in love with Java, it seems to me, for its rigor and straightforwardness.
I came across functional languages ​​(in particular Erlang), I was surprised by the brevity of thought.
And this is where I come to the problem. I fully understand that my knowledge is not enough for a full job now. But time goes by. At the university, they constantly feed me with what was relevant 20 years ago, but this is normal, this is our country. I can get knowledge myself, my main difficulty is that I cannot apply it myself. As soon as I meet some problem that I have to solve, I lose track of time, it captures me completely and completely. However, I live in a place where 90% of vacancies are related to 1C and PHP. I may be wrong, and many of you will confirm this, but I'm looking for something more. I don’t know what, there are only a few things that keep me in good shape now, including the craving for knowledge of the world of Java and CTF, but I am afraid to fade away. Tell me, how did you solve such problems in your time? Where to get experience? Perhaps you need a dropout, no experience,
PS Sorry for the minor tones, actually I'm positive.

Answer 1

Similar problems are solved on the sites hantim.ru and hh.ru , or what do you want to hear?
Or you can do your project for the soul.

Answer 2

I had a similar issue. I solved it by taking a sluggish freelance project, now I'm working on the sly. If there is a desire and time, I can share.