The Daily Vine

Every time I hear “carpe diem,” or any message related to “seize the day,” I shudder at its utter cliché quality. My problem doesn’t lie in the message’s meaning, but in the fact that that it’s just too short. The phrase does not even demand explanation, and so people just schlep it around like nobody’s business. Without an explanation, I don’t feel any substance in the meaning of “carpe diem.” But despite my aversion to this well-worn cliché, I have created my own explanation of “carpe diem” that I actually like. In other words, personalizing a way to think about an old cliché has made the cliché meaningful and persuasive.

Entry-level positions and internships usually conjure up images of boring, exhausting, menial tasks like getting coffee, sorting files, or making copies. In some companies, however, entry-level workers may find themselves with a lack of tasks to do at all. Too skilled to be hired just to make coffee and copies, but not skilled enough to take initiative in team projects, new grads sometimes find themselves floating in work limbo, quickly completing their few, low-skill tasks, constantly bothering managers for more work to do, and mindlessly wasting away the hours in between.