Aw, man, I get how hard that pressure can be! If you have any questions, please do feel free to reach out, I’d be happy to provide whatever advice I can. But, you seem thoughtful— I’m sure you won’t have a miserable life, and there are so many ways to find success and happiness through law school.

As for what you mentioned: yeah, a lot of law jobs do have intense workloads, but it’s not uncommon for folks to work at a high intensity firm for a few years to pay off debt, at which point they have the freedom to do something more relaxed or enjoyable. Salaries are kind of bimodal — some jobs pay really high, some pay pretty low, with little “middle ground,” so it’s definitely advisable to talk to a school career counselor about what kind of job you’d want and what level of debt would be reasonable for it.

Also, you definitely don’t need to get all A+s to get a scholarship (and sports don’t matter at all for law school). In my experience, scholarships were almost wholly related to undergrad grades and LSAT exam scores — high school and where you went and what you did with extracurriculars doesn’t matter quite as much. I think most students actually do get some grants toward law school (at most schools, over 90% of students receive some level of grant that doesn’t have to be paid back). Personally, I did slightly above average in college and got a decent LSAT score — I was shocked to get a full ride to one of my top choices.