i want to stop being a beginner

Yeah so I've taken a few c++ classes at college, up to data structures. But just because I know how to write a bs-tree doesn't mean im an EXPERT PROGRAMMER just yet. The most complicated program I've written so far is one that solves the Towers of Hanoi by brute force. I still consider myself a beginner-level programmer.

Does anyone have any tips on how to improve my skill? Like a large one-man project that will teach me how to write & manage larger programs? Whenever I got the book store and look at the programming sections everything is either TEACH YOURSELF JAVA IN 24 HOURS or like START C++ FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED. Everything is aimed at beginners but I want to move on.

protips?

>>1
if you don't want to be like >>36 ("switch from DOS C++ into real world C++ with QT, MFC or whatever, so that you can get hired", "I myself am trying to learn the win32 API, but it really sucks. That would be too advanced."), buy a book about unix, install unix os on your system (linux would be a great choice), and try to mess with it.