New to Game Art - Looking for advice

I'd like to first say, I've been lurking for a few days and this community is very informative and lively, I like it. Well, my name is Doug and I'm 19. I live in a kind of rural part of Florida, where I have nothing but a community college. My passion since I started high school has been digital art, I bought Adobe Photoshop and became ACA certified before I graduated. I was the best artist in the whole school, and I won the school quite a bit of attention. I also designed a book cover for a book that went up for sale for awhile (publishing issues at the moment) and sold over 500 copies. Once I graduated though I realized there was nothing for me here art wise, so I went to the community college and started a major in computer engineering. I'm really unhappy and am looking for somewhere to move, I know it will be hard but I want to pursue a career in video game art & design.

So I've got a few questions for you all. Like, what should I look for in a school? I don't have much help college wise because no one in my family really went to college And also, what can I do on my own to get started now? I've searched the internet, have been all over these forums, and finding a starting place seems a bit overwhelming.

Thanks for reading this, and I really appreciate any advice you all have! I'm going to go continue lurking a bit.