I like Jonathan's advice. The other things I'd recommend are:

- Don't get certified now. Do that when you have a little experience working with the product, even in side projects.

- Read a lot, and work through examples. Get this daily newsletter, read the articles, work through the QOD, etc. Ask questions in the forums about specifics you don't understand.

- Work on the product. Mimic your DBA, do what he does, or ask if you can do some simple tasks (security, create tables, etc.) under his/her supervision.