JSF, think long term. You never know what the future holds in store for you. Bad things happen to good people. There's several reasons for a back up, and like 727 said...it's mainly as a back up in the event that God forbid, you lose your medical...or your airline goes 6 feet under and you have to sit life on the ground for a while. As hard as it is to think about, try to give yourself an idea of what you'd want to do if you couldn't fly and go from there. Zoology is a really awesome major though, even if you never use it. Got a BS in it, and have absolutely no regrets.