I would argue that starting college right after high school is important. I know a lot of people who started working $25,000 a year jobs right out of high school and never bothered to earn a degree because they thought they were living the high life. In reality that kind of money is chump change. The key is to major in something that will land you a good paying job, business, IT, engineering, etc. It may seems romantic to study philosophy or art but when you're 30 with a kid and a mortgage and only making $35,000 a year you might start to see things differently.
Hollywood wants us to think that we must have a career we love to be happy. Reality, however, demands that we do something we can just tolerate in order to pay the bills. Do the things you love for a hobby.