delicious programming

So I'm a science major trying to get into the health professions field, yet I have a thing for programming.

I started off by learning sepples but then quit after I heard about how much bloat exists on that language. I switched over to C and read K&R C. I read some other books that deal with data structures and stuff, so I think I have an adequate grasp of the language and basic programming concepts. How do I apply this knowledge?

I'm not a computer science major or anything IT related, but are some fields I can join to exercise this hobby of mine? Should I try assembly next and maybe do some inline assembly code? But even then, how can I apply this knowledge?

Is network programming any good? Or how about open source stuff?
Help me /prog/

I'm in a somewhat similiar position as >>1.
I finished my bachelor in Economics and for now I see programming mainly as a hobby. The problem is I'm really interested in programming but I don't care much about economics (I studied this crap because of a women who already left me). Now I think about doing another bachelor in CS but I would prefer to apply my experience as a programmer in the field of economics. Any ideas?

And could you please stop bitching about sepples and video qualities?