Malala Yousafzai

“I am proud that I am the first Pakistani and I am honored that I am the first young woman or the first young person to be receiving this award. I’m thankful to my father for not clipping my wings and letting me fly”(Yousafzai). Malala Yousafzai explains in her Nobel Peace Prize speech how she had to be very courageous and hard-working to reach her goals. She explains how she would rather risk her life than back down from what she believes in. When fighting towards a goal it is important to never step away from the goals we want to achieve even when risk is involved. Due to her father being non-traditional, it allowed Yousafzai to think more freely and not be bound to strict Pakistani customs, which motivates her desire to fight for equal rights in education for everyone. Her passion as an activist is evident in her fight for equal rights and her refusal to give in to pressure and remain firm in her beliefs is characteristically heroic. This shows that a person does not need situations to be heroic; they can be heroic on their own if they act like a hero and work hard for their goals. A hero who fights for what they believe in has heroic traits such as bravery and compassion to help them reach their goals even when they have to face obstacles.

Malala gives a speech on children's education awareness.https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/canada/2017/04/12/malala-yousafzais-inspirational-speech-after-becoming-an-honorary-canadian/malala-speech.jpgMalala Yousafzai embodies these traits when fighting for children’s education, even when faced with multiple death threats. Malala was born in 1997, in Swat, Pakistan, a small valley, where she lived with her parents and two brothers. As a result of being a female first-born in Pakistan, the occasion would normally be seen as a time of grief for the mother because she was born a girl rather than a boy. However, when she was born her father celebrated her birth just like they would’ve done for a boy. This sense of equality that she experienced in her family motivated her fight toward equal education rights. However, the Taliban, a terrorist group, sent her multiple threats for going against what they were preaching and then shot her on a normal day when she was coming home from school on the bus. Contrary to expectation, Yousafzai didn’t take this shooting as a traumatic experience, but used it as motivation to strengthen her fight towards spreading awareness for children’s education. In order for Malala to be a hero, she must possess compassion and bravery even in the face of danger. By displaying bravery towards the Taliban when people were scared and remaining compassionate towards others when others couldn’t, Malala Yousafzai deserves the title of a hero.

Malala Yousafzai shows she is heroic when she remained courageous when spreading awareness of education equality even when receiving death threats from the Taliban. She had to remain brave when she would publicly speak against the Taliban, which put her life in danger: “As a pupil in her father's school, Malala took up advocacy for girls' education at the early age of 11, after the Taliban banned girls from attending school. She first gained notoriety when her father took her to Peshawar to speak at the local press club. ‘How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?’ she asked in a speech covered by the local press and television”(Gale Resources). She went out to speak for what she believed in despite her young age. This event showcases Yousafzai’s bravery because she speaks against the Taliban, knowing they will probably see it, which is putting her and her family’s lives in danger. Yousafzai proves she is extraordinarily courageous by not backing away from what she believes in due to fear, because even the government had become frightened of the Taliban’s increasing power. She isn’t afraid of anyone when it comes to standing up for equal education rights, a quality that is shown especially when she spoke out against the former president of the United States, Barack Obama, in relation to her point of view on his military decisions.“In September she addressed an audience at Harvard University and in October met with U.S. President Barack Obama and his family. During that meeting that she challenged the president on the use of drone strikes in Pakistan--attacks aimed at the Taliban--because they frequently resulted in innocent casualties”(Martin). When Yousafzai met Barack Obama she addressed the fact that the drones were doing more damage than good. Malala Yousafzai did not become shy and went straight to business because the spotlight does not influence her and she is always focused on making the world a better place. Malala Yousafzai shows bravery through fighting for what she believes in despite risking her life, so that she can reach her dream of giving many more people the right to education.

Malala Yousafzai wins the Nobel Peace Prizehttp://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/creativecontent/images/cms/841136_1280x720.jpgMalala Yousafzai further shows she is heroic because she never shows hatred towards anyone, even the Taliban, because she believes in showing compassion and helping others understand her point of view, which many others couldn’t do because of the war. Yousafzai shows compassion when explaining how she doesn’t spread hate towards the Taliban and moves on knowing that the Taliban didn’t understand her point of view: “I am not against anyone, neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I'm here to speak up for the right of education for every child”(Gale). Yousafzai encourages compassion by explaining how her purpose is to spread awareness for equality and education, not to spread hate. She has moved on from the fact that the Taliban have shot her and continues to work hard on fighting for girl’s and boy’s education rights. Thus, proving she is heroic because when most people were scared and surrendered she risked her life and didn’t let death threats get in her way. She also shows compassion when she tries to understand the reason behind people’s anger instead of getting upset: “....on twitter and facebook we could see my own Pakistani brothers and sisters turning against me. They accused me of speaking out of ‘a teen lust for fame.’ One said, ‘Forget the image of your country, forget about the school. She would eventually get what she was after, a life of luxury abroad.’ I don’t mind. I know people say these things because they have seen leaders and politicians in our country who makes promises they never keep” (Martin). After moving to Birmingham, she was invited to give a speech in New York City. Many people thought of her as an inspiration, however, many people from Pakistan thought Yousafzai was just doing everything for fame and money. Even though she faced negativity from her own people, she remains compassionate by acknowledging the situation from the Pakistani’s perspective. Malala Yousafzai shows compassion towards others by trying to see things from others points of views and not showing anger and hatred.

Malala talks to the new students at the school she opened for Syrian refugeeshttps://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/malala-yousafzai.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=618&h=410&crop=1Malala Yousafzai proves she is a hero by continuing to stand against the Taliban and shows compassion by understanding others points of views. She receives death threats even years after the attack, but she remains brave and keeps on persevering for equal children and women’s education rights. While her bravery is commendable, Yousafzai’s compassion towards her detractors is equally boundless, going through great lengths to understand them against all odds. “My only regret was that I hadn’t had a chance to speak to them before they shot me. Now they’d never hear what I had to say. I didn’t even think a single bad thought about the man who shot me-I had no thoughts of revenge….”(Yousafzai). Even after experiencing tragedy, she references her own failure to relate as opposed to lashing out in anger, which takes an extraordinary amount of will given what she went through. I think Yousafzai is an inspiration to many people because she is selfless, brave, and compassionate, but most importantly because she still strongly believes in equality for children’s education so that everyone has the same opportunities. I, myself can connect to this because my parents like most of the world had to work because their parents couldn’t afford to send them to school anymore. Today, I want to make my parents proud by being grateful for education ,which most of the world cannot get and always stand up for what I believe in and always be considerate of others. Since Yousafzai took the freedom her dad gave her to an advantage, she was able to fly to unreachable destinations to help girls receive equal education rights and is still soaring today.