If yes, what sort of projects would be up?

I am considering buying a micro-controller to start tinkering around with embedded systems and firmware programming.  Is there any specific hardware (affordable by student standards) I could buy and work with that would be beneficial for the project?

Furthermore, Is there any thing I could work on to get started and familiarize myself with the coreboot ecosystem? (I am comfortable with the C language, linux and coreutils and will be working on a hobby-proof-of-concept-psuedo-device driver for the linux kernel once exams are concluded) 

Also, how relevant are 2022 projects now?

Thank You