Turns out the reply in my thread telling me the best way to combat not caring about Linux is to care about Linux was absolutely correct.
I picked up a laptop, installed Linux Mint Cinnamon, and I’m already obsessed. I haven’t had this much fun with a PC in a long time and it’s just a cheapo Dell Inspiron 3520.
Your best focus at the moment is your degree, including during the holidays. You can Linux fanboi all you like after you’ve graduated, unless you’ve got some really strong personal convictions that push you in that direction, and it seems you haven’t otherwise you’d already be there.