You can - and should, actually get a credit card if you are 18 years old. My son was in your exact situation a couple of years ago, ready to go to college, a part time summer job but not much else in terms of income. He had a savings account since he was a small child, on his 18th b'day we got him a checking account, and a student credit card from Discover card.

The Discover card has no annual fee, $500 credit limit, they actually give you a bonus for paying on time. I also put him as an authorized user on my United card (for 5000 miles of course). He has been using the Discover card and paying it off every month for about 2 years now, his credit score on Creditkarma is in the 720 range and he is getting ready to apply for his own Visa card in the near future. My point is, start slowly and deliberately, in 2 or 3 years you can start trying your luck at one of the bonus cards - it is a marathon, not a sprint.