Yerlan Mak

Creative Writing

Mr. Weinstein

The burden we all carry.

It would be hard to call this past year a certain learning experience -- I feel like I have

been through a lot already as is. But that does not mean I didn't learn something. Tim O'Brien's

book -- ​The Things They Carried ​-- has served as a powerful reminder of life's hidden undertones

and lesser spoken shades: it was the missing piece to the puzzle. Certain quotes and phrases were

put so well together, that it was hard to believe that language could convey so much in a

sentence. Words have a magical ability to draw at heartfelt strings that you hide away -- and you

sure know when you struck something.

“And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what

stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the

night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are

for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” There

was something about this quote that felt so deep and shallow. I even remember the feeling I got

when I read this -- and it was short hand austere. O’Brien is right, remembering leads to stories,

even when memory seems to be at fault: and it's these very stories that have led to some of the

best talks of my life. It feels so amazing to finally get something of your chest; to connect with

someone else and share your darkest stories. I reckon intimacy isn't granted, it is a relationship
and a fervent connection you build: and stories help do that. I learned that stories help you

connect with other people-- people that you may someday share a few with.

“It’s about love and memory. It’s about sorrow. It’s about sisters who never write back

and people who never listen.” The context of this quote refers to war, something we in the

private sector have very little idea about. But if you think about it, some people are already

fighting a war of their own -- life. I would say we are all in one way or another at conflict with

something in our life: and that is just human. But in the scope of it all, you can find things you

would have never expected within your own war: love, memory and passion; sadness, brutality

and compassion. This is all that makes you human, a garnished collection of experiences that

make the unique individual. People will explain this with god's will, but I like to think of it as

character development. I learned that life is very much about sadness and happiness and all of its

subsequent tones -- and I sure hope there is a bigger picture to all this.

“‘Hear that quiet, man?' he said. 'That quiet -- just listen. There's your moral.’” I am

honestly still not sure what the moral is, but I can say that ​quiet​ has a tone of its own. I think that

there is a certain beauty to silence: a tranquil medium. Maybe the moral is to listen to silence, to

listen to your true self, to discover things you never even thought about. I found shadows of

myself I had very little knowledge of -- some dark and some bright. Quiet isn't so quiet, and only

people that have truly asked themselves questions in utter silence will know. I learned that quiet

is the only sound voice in your head, and all you have to do is just listen. Just listen.
 A month ago, I was due to ship out June 18th. Infantry contract sub-signed to recon

battalion. 4 year active duty. Now I am committed to an art school on a grant as an honor

student. Nothing is ever set in stone. Maybe quiet is the moral, and all it took was a little bit of

listening. ​The Thing They Carried​ was the book that had me reevaluate a lot of decisions, a kind

of talisman on a two way road: left or right? I hope O’Brien smiles knowing that his book

changed some kids' path, at least for the next four years.

P.S: Dear Mr. Weinstein, Creative Writing has been one of those experiences I will

probably never forget. A lot has happened these past two years: experiences that break people,

but allowed me to express it through art. Tough decisions and moral questions hung over me. But

through hell and past it, I learned to bleed on paper--and sometimes that's all we need.