Dude, I did basically the same thing. It's only bad if you wanted to stay in school. What I did is I just started working at a well known upper class supermarket when I was 16. I'm slowly rising up the ranks, I hope to become a manager eventually. That's a very achievable goal, I think, and it would be a better than average job for this country.
So this means, at 17, I have more money than all of my friends and am basically the only one who has been able to buy a car. I also have a more stable outlook on a job than them, as they can't be guaranteed a job after leaving college / Uni. Also, I won't have to be repaying University loans for the majority of my life, like they will be.
Just be positive.