Distorted

Greetings!

I am a 3rd year psych major at a Maryland college, and am investigating my options with respect to the military, SF, and SOF in general. I have always been very patriotic, and I firmly believe in military service. I will be graduating next June at the age of 19, and if I succeed in bringing myself physically up to spec, will immediately join the military with the intent to become a QP.

I am planning to volunteer at my local hospital this summer, and hopefully become EMT-qualified at some point next year. I have also been studying Arabic using the Rosetta Stone software, and am hoping to acheive moderate fluency at some point before joining. I have read as much as I can about the field, and began thinking about attempting to become a QP after reading Dick Couch's recent book about the Q-Course, specifically the 18As. Before that, I had been looking primarily at USAF special tactics, specifically the CCTs. I may be misinformed about one or both of those careerfields, so I am seeking more information here and in other places. In high school, I thought seriously about becoming a SEAL, but once I hit a height of 6'6", I decided that I would have to find something to do in one of the other three branches.

As far as my personality goes, I have a good deal of self-confidence, I read constantly, I make friends easily (I identified strongly with the QP who walked across a road to introduce himself to Mr. Couch at the beginning of that book), I learn quickly and do my best to avoid making the same mistakes twice, I have no issue with being a leader and will take initiative when required to do so, I have no problems with authority--when someone else is better suited to lead I follow, I speak my mind when I am qualified to to so, and shut up and listen when required; when I set out to do something, I will push until unable to continue--most of my failures are failures of ability, not effort. I of course expect that the above is to be taken with a grain of salt--it is very difficult for people to offer honest self-assessments, and I would expect that I am no different. I ordered a copy of Get Selected, and am PT-ing as hard as is reasonable to do so, but it is not easy going, as in September I was exceptionally out of shape, and though I have improved very significantly, I am nowhere near where I want to be. I am focused primarily on making sure that I am physically and mentally up to spec at present.

I had lurked for quite a while before registering, and registered primarily to talk to QPs to make certain that I'm thinking in the right direction. I am usually very shy when it comes to the internet and prefer reading to posting, so outside of a few PMs, don't expect to hear much from me!

Edit for clarity: I am aware of the very significant difference between the 18X enlisted path and the path to SFAS followed by college graduates hoping to become 18As. I am interested in the latter much more than the former. I am also seriously considering enlisting in the Air Force to become a CCT, but am not considering going the air force officer route. I am here as a part of an effort to learn as much as possible about SF and other SOFs in the hopes that I can correctly decide which direction I'm really interested in going. I suspect that I may not go the army officer route, as I will have just turned 20, and may catch some flak for that. Pardon me for being unclear.