What were you doing at 12? 

Worrying about that English test? Or writing a blog on your day-to-day life in war-torn Pakistan for the BBC?

How about at 13? 

Trying out for the soccer team? Or maybe starring in a documentary about your life and your advocacy for girls’ education?

At 15? 

Getting your learner’s permit? Or were you shot in an assassination attempt by the Taliban due to your work on behalf of girls’ rights?

And at 17? 

Touring colleges? Or did you win a Nobel Peace Prize?

As amazing as it sounds, there is one young woman whose life followed the latter paths:  Malala Yousafzai.  

Malala has followed the path of most resistance so that other girls can attend school and have, what is for many, the luxury of tests to worry over. She has been fighting for the rights of girls to live what we in the USA take for granted as ordinary lives through her extraordinary advocacy work.  

Today we celebrate Malala’s 22nd birthday and her incredible life.  This brave young woman has spoken out for girls’ education and girls’ rights since she was an adolescent – in a dangerous world where her words and actions so frightened the Taliban that they tried to permanently silence her.  

Malala has won a multitude of awards for her activism and has the ear of many world leaders.  And she uses her fame to advocate for the right of girls around the world to have an education through her Malala Fund. 

Join us as we celebrate the life of this world-changing young woman!

To learn more about Malala, listen to her father’s TED Talk here.