Becky,
Why don't you get your commercial and then go to university? While at uni you could keep applying for airline jobs. I had a friend who did that after he left the RAF (didn't make the grade transitioning to fast jets). He left after a semester when he got accepted into a sponsorship scheme. (That was about 10 years ago when they were more common!)
And if you get a degree before a job then you'll have another string to your bow should you be unlucky enough to loose your medical, etc. in the future.
Si