Reflective Essay: A Trip To The Beach

Throughout my camp experience I received many letters that my grandmother had written me. All of them were delivered in the form of faxes to the camp that I was attending. She had been sending me these letters every December since I was the age of eleven. Except, only at the age of fifteen, did I begin to realise that beneath her intricate handwriting and cursive script was an even more elaborate message. All her letters contained life stories about our lineage and history, and, at the bottom of each letter - beneath the loops of her signature - was a quote.
“You must only speak if you are certain that you can improve on the silence.”
I remember looking down at the letter and thinking about how profound that quote had seemed. However; at

A Cape Town holiday for seventeen– year- old girls was more raucous than anticipated, owing to our trip’s constant encompassment of parties. It was as if I could hardly breathe through the overwhelming parties that eventually my head was consumed with dramatic teenagers which was far beyond any holiday I could have imagined. Even the beaches became a social meeting which depleted its serenity. You could sit down, and peak through the packed crowds and umbrellas that swarmed the beaches just to attempt to watch the soft waves of the

The boy smiled and thanked me for caring but said nothing about his action. Instead he pointed to the letter I held in my hand. A realisation filled my mind. The silence was so much stronger than the noise. He had chosen to be the better person instead of allowing all the hurtful things that had welled up in his head to flood through. He taught me the importance and the strength of my grandmother’s quote. He taught me to “Go placidly amid the noise and haste.” He showed me “what peace there may be in silence.” I learned that despite how beautiful or hurtful words may be, you are the only person who can give or take their