Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. Her father,Ziauddin Yousafzai is a poet, the head of a chain of schools, and an educational activist. Malala attended her father’s school until the Taliban began attacking girl’s schools in Swat Valley, where Malala lived with her parents and two brothers. As response to these attacks, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan in September of 2008. Malala began blogging anonymously for BBC in 2009 but her identity was later uncovered.

At eleven, Malala was doing what many girls older than her had refused to do out of fear. Malala continued to speak against the wrong doings of the Taliban and the deprivation of education for girls which eventually lead the Taliban to place a death threat on her. Although Malala feared for the wellbeing of her family, she was not willing to let that stop her. She continued to voice her opinions and stand for what she believed in. The Taliban began to compromise with Malala and finally her goal was reached: girls were once again granted the right to an education.

            Threats against Malala began to arise again in 2012 and eventually the Taliban had unanimously agreed to kill her. On October 9, 2012, two men, who would later be revealed as members of the Taliban, entered the bus that Malala was taking on the way back home from school. “Who is Malala?” they shouted. All heads turned towards Malala, answering their question. Three shots were fired, one hitting Malala and the others hitting two other students. The bullet that struck Malala had traveled from her head, down her neck and to her shoulder. Malala was immediately taken to a hospital in Peshawar and operated on. The attack had left Malala in a coma and she had been transferred to many hospitals for better treatment. Finally, she was sent to England where she received treatment from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. By January of 2013, Malala was out of the hospital and ready to enter the battlefield again. “Dear friends, on the 9th of October, 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed” said Malala on July 12, 2013, also her sixteenth birthday and proclaimed as Malala Day by the UN.

            Since the attack, Malala has only grown stronger. Malala along with British journalist, Christina Lamb, wrote Malala’s memoir, I am Malala:The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban, which was published in October of 2013. She has also spoke in front of the UN and met with many distinguished individuals such as Queen Elizabeth II and President Obama and his family. Malala was awarded with the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, the Sakharov Prize, and was first nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.Finally on October 10, 2014 Malala shared the Nobel Peace Prize withKailashSatyarthi, an Indian who works against child labor.

Malala Yousafzai has become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and has created history once again. The Malala Fund was started after the attack by many prominent personalities who wanted to help Malala and create an even bigger platform for her to continue her work. The fund has become the voice of struggling girls around the world, lost without education.

            In her short life, Malala Yousafzai has left an impact on this world that most people cannot make in their life time. Today, Malala lives in the UK with her family and is thinking about attending college to study politics. She fought for what she believed and even when some tried to knock her down.

Malala was once quoted saying during a UN meeting, “The wise saying, 'The pen is mightier than sword' was true.

The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them.” She expressed and continues to express her firm belief in the power of education and of women in public. Malala has made life more pleasant for countless number of girls around the world with the right to an education by using her voice and using her right to speak freely for what she believes.

An education is something that we are so lucky to have here in the states and something that we often take for granted not realizing that there are people around the world, like Malala and the other Pakistani girls who would give anything for an opportunity to go to school. Malala has taught us to cherish the precious gift of education and use it in the best possible way.

Malala is the perfect example of bravery and determination. Now as she has become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, she has rewritten history and has once again become a perfect example of where courage and determination can take a person. Her strength and optimistic nature is something that every human being can emulateand apply to their own life.