OK, let's zero you in here. You're already in law school. In the first semester of your first year. You shouldn't be thinking about anything else but what you have on your plate right now, and if you have three months of savings to support three months without work, it should be the next three months.

Because when you get that law degree, you have a ticket to jobs that will pay at least at that $70k level, for life. Not just in law firms or corporate law (though we'll come back to that in a second). There are lots of ways in which you can use a law degree across all sectors -- from government to the entire non-profit sector to corporate in-house. And if you do kick ass in law school, and particularly in first year, i.e., here and now, then you can have a reasonable shot at getting into a firm and into corporate and finance law.

And maybe you won't dig it (just like you seem not to dig first year right now, and we'll come back to that in another second). No problem, because after 2-3 years practicing those sorts of law -- particularly deals -- you can slide into finance or investment management, and just do deals without doing the papers. And if you do dig firm life, then you can stick, and make bank that way.

First year is rough. Lots of people hate it. But it is precisely the wrong time to bail out. This is the time to kick ass at what you have in front of you right now. You can bail in second year if you really, really can't stand it, or you can get the degree and get a couple of years experience and then bail out of practice. Or you might find that, after you get through first year and (just barely) start to know what you're doing, you actually do dig it, and then you can keep practicing. And whichever direction you go in, that degree, and your law license, will be a non-expiring ticket to a lifetime at-least-middle-class employment. Don't bail on that now that you've taken the first step. Take the next few steps, tough as they are, and then see how things look.

Source: 25 years of practice.