I was somewhere in the third hour of my LSAT when the words began to lose focus. They began to dance around, disappearing into the page only to pop up again in other places. The letters became hundreds of meaningless squiggly lines that I cared nothing about.

“What are you doing?” asked one of the many voices inside my head.

“Pull yourself together,” replied a much louder and more forceful one. “You’re on a time limit, and this is important!”

I tensed my body and shook my head, and the language of my newest trick question made sense again. My lapse only lasted a few seconds, which was good. The test is written to make you hurry.

Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through this stuff when I could be outside playing Frisbee. I mean, what if I died there taking a test, having spent the last week of my life in the library?

I know, I know. “Quit your whining,” you say. You’re right. Being a student is one of the most exciting, challenging and satisfying ways to live. It’s fantastic.

It’s just not what I would be doing otherwise.

I’ve made a commitment and I have to follow through on it. It’s called “investing in your future” and that’s exactly what it is. I’m incredibly fortunate to have parents who help me, and I wouldn’t change a single decision I’ve made.

That’s good because there’s a lot of pressure at this age to “be” something. People ask all the time, in one tactful way or another, what you’re going to “be.” And you’re expected to give an answer.

I usually try to give an answer that will satisfy whoever is asking without really addressing the question head-on.

“I’d like to go to law school,” I say. Of course I’d like to practice law. I don’t really know what it is, but so far I think it is the most interesting subject I have ever studied in school, for whatever that’s worth.

My old friends from high school flinch at this. “I never pegged you to be a lawyer,” they say.

I have to stop myself from snapping at them. That’s not what I’m going to be. It’s what I’m doing now. But I don’t think I could handle doing it for my entire life.

I could never handle doing anything for the rest of my life.

It’s no secret that Americans define each other’s identities by the jobs they have. “What do you do?” is inevitably a question in any social situation.

But I’ve always resented being placed in any category - vocational, political or otherwise - because I think it cheapens my worth as a person.

Republicans and Democrats always want to stamp me with a label to find out if I’m on their team. They ask me a few questions and use that to stuff me into a political belief box, chopping off the excess where it doesn’t fit. But I think if someone talked about it with me for 15 minutes, they wouldn’t know where to put me.

I like that idea because it helps me reinforce that I’m an individual. I’m not pro-life or pro-choice. I’m Andrew.

But of course we can’t avoid labeling ourselves. From the moment we get out of bed we’re constantly telling ourselves “I am this” and “I am that” so we know what to do with our day. We need these constant reminders of our psychological ego because it’s how we define ourselves.

Many religions teach this is an empty way to live because it doesn’t really satisfy what’s inside. Our ego is just something we’ve constructed to give our lives meaning. Thus, the way to achieve real happiness is to separate yourself from your ego and realize that life has no point.

Blissful, isn’t it?

I’ve never fully agreed. I think this life is exciting, and I don’t want to separate myself from it. I’ve constructed a point to life and I like it.

There’s a lot of pressure on us in college to “be” something, and it’s important to remember we don’t need to be anything except ourselves. You can pick a path and label yourself - it means you know where you are and what you are doing.

But this is an illusion. The system you have placed yourself in does not exist. You created it in your mind to satisfy yourself.

Rather than stressing about finals, future and all the things that normally ruin your day, take your life for what it is - a joke.

You need to play the game by the rules that have been laid out, so do the best you can. But don’t let what you do take over your life. You’re too important to get lost in a category.

Andrew Banyai is a political science and pre-law junior. Reach him at banyaian@msu.edu.