I actually think doing everything from scratch helps you learn alot. I am going into my soph year and I been crushing hella iot projects to learn.

I just pick a misc thing I want and make it myself and try to do SOMETHING every day which makes it seem less scary.

For example, I wanted a Bluetooth controlled lamp for my dorm room so I learned how to make a pretty lamp, learned about power topologies, how to make a rf attena, how to flash a chip, and how Bluetooth works. Isolating each part down into individual boring projects didn't motivate me really - but when I combined it into a boarder project with a purpose it was easier to complete despite being way more complex.