How Young Activist Malala Yousafzai Is Changing the World

Profile by Isabella Brosnan ‘28

Twenty-seven year old Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan is most famous for fighting for women’s rights and girl’s education, and she can be an inspiration to all of us. 

With a thirst for knowledge, Malala has always loved learning new things and seeing how she can apply them to her life. When the Taliban extremists took over Swat Valley,

Pakistan, where Malala lived, they took away many of the people’s rights--especially education for girls. At the young age of eleven, Malala was determined to fight for education equality because she knew the power education holds. Not only that, but she strongly believed it was a fundamental human right and believed all children deserve equal access to quality education. From then on, she became an impactful activist for social change. Although she was shot in 2012 as a hate crime against her activism, Malala didn’t stop fighting, and she “wouldn’t let the bullet silence” her. In 2014, at the age of seventeen, she won the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest person ever to do so. She is also the author of the bestselling book I Am Malala and co-founder of the Malala Fund, which helps girls get access to quality education. 

Malala Yousafzai can be an inspiration to all of us: she is determined; she is independent; she is strong; she is kind; but most of all, she isn't afraid to fight for what she believes in. As she said in her sixteenth birthday speech at the United Nations: “So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”

As women in this generation, we can change the world, too, one step at a time. We just have to use the power of our voices, and the power of education, and we can achieve countless things. 

Source: Malala.org

All Photos Courtesy of NelsonMandela.org

Edited by Valentina Cauchi '28, Catherine Polatidis '26 and Ms. Brilliant

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