system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Some questions about getting into and working in academia

I am currently a Junior in high school.

I really love math and computer science. My dream is to be a researcher in some area of theoretical computer science, but I have a few questions that make me doubt the practicality of my dream:

1. Most people who make notable contributions seem to have prestigious awards (like field medals for math) and come from prestigious universities even for their undergrad. Is this a wrong perception of mine? If I am unable to get into such a school, does this somehow decrease my ability to do anything "significant?"
2. What are some downsides of working in academia?
3. Is there a significant difference between joining a private company (organizations like Microsoft Research, DeepMind, Google Brain, FAIR, etc.) and doing research at a university as a professor?
4. What is the general path to becoming a researcher? I understand the whole Undergrad -> PhD/Grad School sequence, but what comes after this?
5. Elaborating on (1) and potentially answering (2), it seems to me like academia can be a relatively stressful and "toxic" field, with a large amount of importance given to prestige, research output, etc. Is this true? If so, how bad is it?

Thanks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: One thing I should add is I am neither interested in nor skilled at teaching. I would think this is a good reason to stay away from professorship, but do correct me if I am wrong. I am aware that my opinion on teaching may change over the years.
gpt
Me: 
Reads “I am currently a Junior in high school.” Rolls eyes. 

Also me:
Reads whole post. Wildly impressed by OP’s maturity, self-awareness, and thoughtful, well-researched questions. Sends digital high five. OP is going to do just fine.