How to get started as a Malware Analyst?

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section.

A little about me: I'm going to be a sophomore in the fall at university, my major is Computer Science (Information Assurance). I've been interested in malware/antivirus since the sixth grade. I remember removing the McAfee security software from my family computer and replacing it with other vendors (kaspersky, bitdefender, eset, etc). I also used to watch youtube reviews of said vendors and other antimalware software, and have just recently acquired my own Virtual Machine and I install malware on there and use different products to see which can best remove the malware.

Anyway, how would you suggest I go about becoming a malware analyst? I've made a list of books to study (pratical malware analysis, art of memory forensics, malware rootkits, botnets: a beginners guide, etc). I also like to read kaspersky's theatpost and malwarebytes' blog, any other tips to get me started in my dream career?