In order to gain experience while taking your degree, I would suggest you practice on your own time or look for a part-time job in the networking field, that will help develop your skills and gain an understanding of how computer networks work in general, a very essential requirement if you want to pursue a career in the security field in the future.
On the other hand, would be wise if you could do the following certifications (CCNA and MCSE), especially if you want to get a job in the network administration. In fact, I know of a few ex-work colleges of mine that, had to get these certifications done because they were part of their job requirements.
In addition, you can't lose but only gain more from these certifications, I myself am in the process of doing several other certifications that once done will make me a Microsoft Server Engineer certified.
Furthermore, it will look good on your resume when hunting for jobs. Anyhow, I can't stress enough on this one, but always practice and practice, practice makes you good and that's the part I like most in IT, its rewarding, you are always learning new exciting things and it only gets better and more interesting.
Good luck..