Malala Yousafzai

"In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education[...] it's like precious gift. It's like a diamond" (Malala Yousafzai). Various children around the word have the privilege to attend school but on the other hand, one young girl in her community was not as lucky. This one girl's dream was to earn an equal education for all people, her name is Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. She was always taught by her father that education was an essential key to life. From the very young age of eleven she realized that the Taliban and Islamic groups in her community were a barricade from her and her education ("Malala Yousafzai Challenges Taliban on Education and Women's Rights in Pakistan, October 9, 2012"), she became tired of having to go to school in secrecy, so she realized she had to speak out. Yousafzai started to take a stand for women's educational rights. A hero can be defined as a highly inspirational, courageous person, someone who has exemplary values, and these components all portray Malala Yousafzai. She is not just seen as a young girl who stands up for herself, but rather for all girls and their education. Malala Yousafzai is a inspirational hero because of her continuing perseverance and determination, her humble attitude towards helping others, and continuing to take strides to make a change for women's education.

Yousafzai stood strong against all forces that tried to take her down and get in her way, with her endless amounts of determination and perseverance in all she did and is still doing. Speaking out for women's education in her country was extremely dangerous but, as she explains in her speech, "had two options, one was to remain silent and wait to be killed. And the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up" ("We Ask The World Leaders To Unite And Make Education A Top Priority"). Yousafzai's constant perseverance made all the difference. Her strong mentality and determination to keep fighting even after obstacles is incredible. Yousafzai showed no sign of fear or submissiveness to those who threatened her. Even death did not stand in her way, as she would rather speak out for her beliefs than die knowing she did nothing to help. It almost seemed as if Yousafzai wasn't afraid of anything. Nowadays, girls don't want to step outside because they feel they will be judged by the way the look or what they believe in. Malala encourages those girls to not be weakened by the words of others, but rather use them to become stronger. Her enemies weren't really enemies at all because Malala did not fear them. She states, "The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born" ("Let Us Wage A Glorious Struggle"). Even after being shot at and almost killed, she rose up against the crashing wave of hate and evil. Empowerment fired up within her and encouraged her to make a change towards equal education. '"I'm never going to give up," Malala said when asked about repeated death threats made by the Taliban. "They only shot a body but they cannot shoot my dreams"' (Edwards). The terrorist attempted to bring down Malala's whole world but in reality there deceitful plan backfired. Yousafzai didn't hide in fear but kept going towards her dream and her determination to change the life of education was too strong for anyone to demolish. She set her eyes on the prize and never looked away, her attitude and grit for girl's educational right's becoming even stronger. She rose to the top of the situation and spoke out for what she cared about: peace, justice, education, and the power of words. A single word can make a difference, and to Yousafzai, that's all she needed to make a change.

As she followed her mission of creating equal education for women and all children, her spirit was very humble. She didn't do this to gain attention from anyone but only to help others. As she became more recognized around the world she wanted to ensure others that she is just like them. In her speech she makes a very essential point when she says, "Some people, call me a "Nobel Laureate" now. As far as I know, I am just a committed and stubborn person who wants to see every child getting quality education, who wants equal rights for women and who wants peace in every corner of the world"("We Ask The World Leaders To Unite And Make Education A Top Priority"). Her description of herself is wise beyond her years because, as a daily person strives toward perfection, all Malala seeks is change. Change not only for herself, but every child searching for that one missing diamond in the world - education. Yousafzai was even recognized with her own day on her sixteenth birthday, the day of her first speech since being attacked by the Taliban. In her speech she says, "Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights" ("Let Us Wage A Glorious Struggle"). Yousafzai's humble attitude shines through in this particular speech, because even after truly earning the reward of her own day, she gives her audience the perspective that everyone is equal and no one person is more important than another. She puts herself on the same level as everyone else. Malala Day is a symbol for all the children that don't have a voice in the world. She is taking initiative so all children have the privilege to learn, and encourage others to take action and help her along her walk. A walk towards a better world where children have equal education. She concludes that, "[...]it would be a 'great honour and more than I deserve' to win the accolade, but insisted she had more to do before she could feel she has truly earned it. 'I need to work a lot,' she said" (Edwards). Humility was her strong suit; she very well knew she wasn't perfect and there were areas in which she could always improve. She also knew that no matter what she did, it would never be enough because for her, there is always room for making a change. Her humble attitude is what sets her apart from any ordinary person and makes her a true hero. She did not do any of this to become famous, but instead to take initiative in a field that was being so poorly neglected. Malala used her voice to be the voice of millions of children who don't have one. She took a chance and made a difference.

After being recognized by the world that there was a true problem with education  in her community of Pakistan, Malala didn't stop her journey. She kept going in order for people to recognize this is was global issue. Encouraging others was also a strong suit for Yousafzai and can be seen when she empowers the audience by proclaiming, "So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world"("Let Us Wage A Glorious Struggle"). In her eyes she can see that in the world there is a lack of equal education for all people, and proves that all it takes is one person to make a change. In order for people to make change, they need education first, and she knew this was very important. She strides away from terrorism, and strides toward education. She takes action for women's education with her fund when, "Yousafzai announced that spring that the fund's first project would be support for 40 girls and young women in the same northwestern Pakistani region where Yousafzai had been shot for attending school" (Malala Yousafzai Challenges Taliban on Education and Women's Rights in Pakistan). For a young girl like her, it was a big deal to simply speak out, but taking action was even more amazing; to the world her words and actions are very inspiring. She digs deep and asks people to change their mindset about giving up. Yousafzai's words are very encouraging when she claims,"We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we are all together, united for the cause of education" ("Let Us Wage A Glorious Struggle"). Yousafzai reaches out to others by explaining that in order to make a change all that is needed is the power of words and unity. Heroism is a word that can be used to describe Yousafzai. Her actions and strides to make a change for women's education were very successful, because she let the world know the problem and spoke out to help them understand how to fix it. After being recognized as a hero, Malala didn't stop there, she kept making efforts towards equal education. She was even able to produce the Malala fund to help even more people. It is clear she believes that there is never too much someone can do; there is always room to do more.

Malala Yousafzai is a very special girl with big dreams, a humble attitude, and a powerful motive to make a change for not only herself but everyone in the world. She worked so hard to fight for education, went through many obstacles, and overcame them with her outstanding determination. The great thing is she does it for the children who don't have a voice to fight. She keeps making efforts to always help others in any way she can. As I have come to know Malala and her amazing story it inspires me to follow my dreams and speak out for what I believe in. Her courage, humility, and ability to make change is extremely inspirational. Malala Yousafzai is an ordinary girl who decided to reach out to others in order to make a difference, because she was tired of dealing with injustice. She is someone who many people should look up to because even though she may be young, she has wisdom beyond her years. Malala found a way to make the diamond of education visible but now it's up to you and those around you to keep digging it out until it can be seen by the entire world. Keep fighting for what you believe in, and don't let others get in the way of your dream. Speak out and make a change in this very chaotic world that so desperately needs peace. Keep pushing through and, just like Malala, you can also make a change. All you need to take is that first step forward. It may be hard but if you always keep your eye on the prize, your efforts will surely pay off.

Edwards, Anna. "'They Only Shot a Body but They Cannot Shoot My Dreams': Pakistani Girl Shot by the Taliban Reveals She Wants to Be Prime Minister as She Misses out on Nobel Peace Prize." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

" Malala Yousafzai Challenges Taliban on Education and Women's Rights in Pakistan, October 9, 2012."Historic World Events. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.

YOUSAFZAI, MALALA. "Let Us Wage A Glorious Struggle." Vital Speeches Of The Day 79.9 (2013): 266-267. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

YOUSAFZAI, MALALA. "We Ask The World Leaders To Unite And Make Education A Top Priority." Vital Speeches Of The Day 81.2 (2015): 36-38. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.