Malala Yousafzai, a young girl from Pakistan challenged the Taliban and demanded that girls should get an education. She became an activist and a celebrity in her country and outside it. The Taliban took this as an insult and shot her in the head. However, she survived and eventually won a Nobel Prize. Malala is truly an inspiration.

Taliban vs. Women

When the Taliban took over Pakistan, women were treated very poorly. If a woman wanted to leave her home, she had to leave with a male. Women weren't allowed to work or get an education. That restriction didn't sit well with 11-year-old Malala.

Early Steps

In early 2009, Malala began blogging for the BBC about living under the Taliban's threats to deny her an education. She had to use a different name to hide her identity but was later exposed.

Malala knew that her speaking out for what is right wouldn't be tolerated by the Taliban but she continued to speak out for the right for women to get an education. Later that year in 2011, she was awarded Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize.

Under Attack

When Malala was 14, she and her family found out that the Taliban were targeting her and sending death threats. Her family is anti-Taliban and never thought that they would actually harm a child. On October 9, 2012, Malala and her other classmates were on the bus on their way back from school when the bus came to a stop a man got on and asked for Malala. Everyone looked at her, then.... the shot rang and the bullet hit the side of her face, busting her ear drum then going through her neck.

Malala was sent to many hospitals later that day before being flown to Birmingham, England.

The Recovery

Once she was in the United Kingdom, Malala was taken out of a medically induced coma. She required multiple surgeries—including repair of a facial nerve to fix the paralyzed left side of her face. Luckily, she had suffered no major brain damage. In 2013, she was able to start attending school in England.

After the shooting, Malala had so much support from people all over the world standing by her side. She made her first public appearance after her shooting in front of the United Nations on her 16th birthday.

Impact

Later on in 2014, Malala won the Nobel Peace Prize and is still a women's rights activist. Before my English class, I never heard of Malala Yousafzai. Now I consider her a huge inspiration and monumental person not just for women's rights but for human rights.