I have been very fortunate to have grown up with privilege. My mother has always told my siblings and I to be grateful of what we have because not many people have what we do. However, the true reality of one type of the many different situations around the world set in after I read Malala’s story in "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb.

Malala Yousafzai is a young Pakistani woman who had to face death one day coming home from school. She was shot in the head by the Taliban and has recovered with amazing skill and has used her story as a way to show people what an education is worth and how everyone should have equal opportunity.

This book made me look inside myself. Malala had to fight for education, something I have taken for granted. The thought of having to struggle for it was unsettling. Malala’s perseverance for education was truly inspiring and she became an icon for me. Overcoming obstacles to the point of risking her life and living to tell her story, knowing all the while that there would be a heavy price to pay.

She wrote that “when the whole world is silent even one voice becomes powerful.” She inspired me to stand up for what I believe in in life, even if I am alone in the struggle. Malala claims that she was scared because she had seen what the Taliban had done before but still did not give up her fight for the right to an education. This has made me more determined to fight for what is right despite my own fear and intimidation by others.

“I am Malala” not only gives us the message that “knowledge is empowering” and that everybody has a right to education, it has inspired me to stand up for what I believe in.