Im not writing this to try to discourage your dream like the guy above my post says most people will do on these forums. I am not a pilot nor have I done any training in the field. The reason I felt I should respond to your thread is because I was in the same position you are in now. At the age of 14 I had a love for aviation among many other thing. 14 turned to 15 to 16 and you get the point. long story short I was 20 years old and still undecided so I joined the Army to explore the other interest I had. It wasnt until 2 years ago that I relized that aviation was my calling, I am 24 now. I wasted many years trying to make up my mind, I have done tons of research on aviation in my army career and I enjoy learning everything about it. In Iraq i studied books on aerodynamics and IFR flying I couldnt get away from it. Thats how I know that aviation is something I want to get into. I kinda got lucky, I have 2 months left on my contract with the Army and I start school in Jan and its all covered by the GI Bill. I got my class 1 flight physical 2 days ago just to make sure nothing would pop up to prevent my career choice. I am willing to take a large pay loss entering this field from the military but I think its worth it. On the bright side I wont have any school loans to pay off.