What were your grades in school?
If you've got good high school grades, frankly there's no reason you couldn't go to college full time for free.
That's what I've done, and if nothing else, you can have 4 years of fun. College is nothing like high school at all, and I've loved it. Wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
And while this is happening, you can catch a top quality education. I'm coming out with a B.S. (hah) in forestry, and plan to get a masters (necessary for a decent job in this field).
Scholarships ARE NOT HARD TO GET. You only have to look.
So GO LOOK!
Sam