Flower in the Storm

You may have perhaps heard of the terrible events in Pakistan recently. Malala Yousufzai, aged 14, is a girl who has spoken out against the Taliban's attempts to stop the education of girls in the Swat region where she lives. She even has a blog about it, and is the first winner of Pakistan's National Peace Prize. A few days ago, the Taliban attacked her as she was coming home from school on the bus. They stopped the bus, asked for her by name, and shot her. Fortunately she is in stable condition.

I myself am a passionate supporter of women's rights and achieving equality all over the world. I often drown myself in books about women's suffering and courage and keep up to date with these issues. My dream job would be working for women's rights with an NGO. My heart goes out to Malala, because she is incredibly brave, and because she is so dedicated to learning. The greatest trouble I have going to school is getting there at 7:00 am, and she receives death threats and refuses to back down. I admire her as a fellow student, teenage girl, and human being, and wish I could let her know that people are cheering her on all across the globe. It is as if she is a flower and the storms of narrow-minded hate are trying to crush her, but she blooms even brighter because she refuses to bend to their force. We are both the same, just trying to get a good education and have a good life. Us and millions of students across the world. We cannot let anything stand in the way of the knowledge of life reaching our budding leaves. Malala went even further and cut down the shadowing oak trees to shed brilliant sunlight on the girls in her region. So, get better Malala. I can't wait to see your petals when you blossom.