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Malala Yousafzai wins Nobel Peace Prize

By Miranda Miller, Staff writer

When most kids get called from their class to go to the office, it’s usually not going to end well. However, on October 3rd, when 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai was called from her chemistry class, it was to congratulate her- for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala began advocating for girls’ education at a very young age in her hometown Mingora, Pakistan. She started speaking out when the Taliban started attacking schools in her area. Her first speech, in September 2008 was entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right of education?” After this speech, she was asked to blog for BBC under a hidden identity. Eventually, however, her identity was revealed. Her activism resulted in a nomination for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011. That same year, she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize. Malala quickly became a symbol of Pakistan’s struggle against Islamic extremist violence.

As Malala’s efforts became more and more successful, the Taliban began to target her. When she was 14, Malala learned that the Taliban had a death threat out for her. On October 9, 2012, a man boarded Malala’s bus home from school and demanded to know which girl was Malala. The man shot her and the bullet hit the left side of her head, travelling down her neck. After surgeons placed a titanium plate in her head, Malala made an incredible recovery and wasted no time before beginning to speak out again. On her 16th birthday she gave a speech at the United Nations, and a few months later she released her book, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.

After her recovery, Malala shifted her focus away from Islamist violence and more towards a general advocacy for children. She has joined forces with Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, resulting in not only a huge step for children’s education, but for the relationship between Pakistan and India. She has won countless awards, and this October she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala shows no signs of stopping and will continue to fight until the voices of the children are heard. On accepting the award Malala responded, “This award is for all those children who are voiceless, whose voices need to be heard,” she said. “I speak for them, and I stand up with them.”

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