Brown- Carpe Diem - Inspiration Essay

What is an academic experience, project, class or book that has influenced or inspired you?

"Carpe Diem", or seize the day. What does this saying mean? Songs, movies, teachers, and parents profess this saying on numerous occasions, but is it actually applicable? Is this term saying that you only have one life to live and therefore you should seize it, and make the most of the opportunities that come your way? Is that its only meaning? These aforementioned questions were some of the many unanswered questions that plagued my life before I read "The Stranger" by Albert Camus.

In this novel, one of Camus main focuses is on the "absurdity of the human condition." This absurdity refers to the idea that life is a precious gift that we are given only once. Despite receiving this gift though, it will always be snatched from us because death is unavoidable. This reasoning made me wonder, since every human being is destined to follow this path of events, does this mean that we are all innately the same? What makes me different from my father, my cousin, or my friend? After completing "The Stranger" the majority of my questions were answered by a tiny, yet powerful word: actions. It is our actions that separate us from one another and make us who we are.

Since reading "The Stranger", I now understand a new meaning of "Carpe Diem." Yes, seizing the day can mean grabbing hold of your life and taking actions that allow you to fully live your life, but to me, seizing the day is so much more. Carpe Diem is more about taking the actions in life that are a benefit to others and which affect the world around you. Now in no way am I saying that the actions you should take should always affect others on a grand scale such as achieving world peace. On the contrary, the actions I'm more talking about are the simple tasks such as holding a door open for an elderly lady, volunteering at a local soup kitchen even if it's only for an hour, or even a simple hug when someone is having a bad day. "The Stranger" has helped me realize that seizing the day is not buying the clothes you've always wanted or taking a risk by running for class council. Instead, it's about helping the community around you and taking non self-centered actions that when you look back on them, make you proud. It's making a difference and doing what is right in a world in which our days are numbered. So I say to you, "Carpe Diem." Seize your life and make the decisions that years from now, you equate to feelings of pride as you remember your role in this world.

Any suggestions with grammar or anything in general?

Thanks

gramatically errors, if there are any, will not take away the insightfulness of this piece!
it addresses the prompt really well, discusses how it challenged you and how you responded it with your readings. it's also a plus that you have a fruit of advice to pass onto your readers. Brown looks for opinionated students and goodluck.

any help?

My answer to this question was about The Stranger too. Great ^^ It's a nice essay but personally I don't see how you got this out of the book: "it's about helping the community around you and taking non self-centered actions". The last sentence is nice.

"Carpe Diem", or seize the day. What does this saying mean?

right here, the reader thinks, "But...you just told me what it means"

Maybe you should use a new opening line; one that is shorter, but that still introduces the term "carpe diem"...(that way more focus will be given to the book by Camus)...and then continue:

Songs, movies, teachers, and parents profess this saying on numerous occasions, but is it actually applicable? Is this term saying that you only have one life to live and therefore you should seize it, and make the most of the opportunities that come your way? Is that its only meaning? These aforementioned questions were some of the many unanswered questions that plagued my life before I read The Stranger by Albert Camus.

See above that I italicized the title of the book. You should take away the " " marks and use italics instead, whenever you mention The Stranger.

....

Instead of "I say to YOU," it might be better to write:

So I say to myself, Carpe Diem; seize this life and make the decisions that, years from now, will be a source of pride as you remember the role you played in this world.