When we hear of the name Malala Yousafzai, it invokes in us a strong reminder of feminine bravado. If you’ll recall, Malala was the young lady who was shot in the head by the local Taliban in the Swat Valley of Pakistan for her insistence on attending school. In short, hers is a story of a little girl who stood up against radical terrorism for the basic human right of attending schools and furthering her education.
Back in Pakistan when Malala Yousafzai was just a little girl, education for girls was almost suicidal. Girls in schools were sumptuous targets for terrorists, the most infamous perpetrators being the Taliban, However, young Malala Yousafzai stood in deafening bravery against the tyranny of the Taliban and suffered serious consequences, namely being shot at close range as she was on her way to school in October 2012. Up until that point, she had received many death threats to stay away from going to school, or else. In the fiery forbiddance of girl education, the terrorist’s attack had precisely the opposite effect, as it only ensured that Malala’s story would gain international attention and condemnation. Malala took the opportunity to further women’s rights around the world and in so doing became an international inspiration.
Little Malala started writing a blog for the BBC. The blog entailed the hurting expedition of the girl student under Taliban occupation. She boldly envisaged education for girls in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. Such heroism would surely come at a cost and Malala paid a dear one at that.
But as dogged as her advocacy for girl education in an area infested with Islamist terrorism, so also was her dogged resilience and will to survive. And somehow miraculously, Malala Yousafzai survived the shot to her head. She was consequently treated in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England where she later stayed.
Malala’s survival of the brutal headshot thrust her into global prominence as the world applauded her rare guts to stand for girls, for their education, where many dared not to stand. In 2014, Malala deservedly clinched the Nobel Peace Prize for her motivational advocacy of the right of children to education across the globe.
Three years further Malala is still conquering her boundaries and now her amicable journey all the way from Pakistani has brought her to Oxford for her own education. In her first day in class she tweeted:
“5 years ago, I was shot in an attempt to stop me from speaking out for girls’ education.Today, I attend my first lectures at Oxford.”
The world rose in response to her tweets and in just hours, the tweet had garnered over 150k retweets from well-wishers.
The amiability was further lengthened by her brother, Khushal Yousafzai, who tweeted her a reply: “Sorry for being a headache for the last 5 years. So grateful you are still with us. Ik (I know) you miss me but I am coming to Oxford in 2 years.”
Earlier this year, Malala revealed that she had got three A’s at A-level courses. News of Malala’s admission into Oxford broke out in August of this year. She confirmed the news by revealing that she would study economics, politics, and philosophy at Oxford.
The whole world certainly remains proud of the inspiring young Malala. So if Malala could battle all the way from Pakistan, through a headshot wound and subsequent Nobel Prize for her efforts to further a woman’s right to education, and then heading off to Oxford, we can all look up to Malala as an inspiration to achieve exactly what we want to achieve, no matter the dangers or consequences.
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