Messed up a whole lot in CC but getting good grades now, is UC out of the question?

Yep it’s definitely possible. I had about 9 Fs and 7 Ws (I still have the Ws, lol) from 3 different community colleges before academic renewal. It wasn’t until about two years and a half years ago that I got serious about school and started getting good grades. I transferred to Cal last fall. The UCs are very forgiving if you have never taken classes at a 4-year university.