About me:

I am going into my second year for Electrical/Computer Engineering at an Ivy League school (for better or worse). I am a varsity athlete at the school and am constantly attempting to balance academics with athletics.

I have dabbled with Objective-C, C, RoR, and a couple other languages/frameworks. I understand my way around them beyond the basics, but am far from being competent enough to feel confident promoting them as current skills.

The dilemma:

Having attended school for only one year, I am yet to learn the "meat" of engineering concepts. My first year was filled with traditional introductory courses and requirements. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my CS course and introduction to engineering lessons. At my school, I am an average student. I pay my dues and study hard. I do enjoy learning here and would not be willing to give up my current situation.

Basically, I want to gain experience in "real-life". This summer, after months of searching, I am working for a small-ish health start-up in Boston. While my official title is iPhone Development Intern, I mainly serve as a translation layer between the product manager/s and contracted development agencies. I've had plenty of time to play with my own code but probably will not have a product to call my own at the end of the internship when I go back to school in late August.

Next summer:

Basically, I am looking for a unique internship next summer ANYWHERE in the US where I can truly learn awesome skills and be able to contribute to something. I would love to relocate for next summer.

I am looking for any suggestions, tips, tricks, or anything else to get me on this path. Where can I look beyond the obvious resources? Career fairs at my school are nightmares. I can wait in line with dozens upon dozens of older classmates possessing 4.0+ GPAs just to have my 3-5 minutes to talk with a recruiter who can't wait to get on her lunch break.

I know I do not have a lot of experience. I am willing to learn new skills in pursuit of experience. I am understand I cannot be the only one in this situation. Where should I begin? Thank you for reading this!

GIST: Young engineering student looking for suggestions or tips on finding a really cool internship next summer to gain "real-life" knowledge.

EDIT: My email is nsw8@cornell.edu -- kind of defeats the purpose of my attempted school anonymity (although I am not hard to track down based on my username).