Malala Yousafzai's story is anything but conventional. When she was only 11, in 2009, she started writing a blog in her own language, Urdu, explaining to people what life under the Taliban was like. She defended the right of children, especially girls, to receive an education. The blog was translated into English and it became so popular that the Taliban felt threatened by it. Three years later, in 2012, a gunman shot her in the head. Two of her friends were shot, too. She had to go through many operations in her country, Pakistan, and later in the UK. She moved there to continue her recovery and study.
2013 was a very active year for her. She made a speech at headquarters of the United Nations in New York. She spoke vehemently of the power of educating girls and women and against intolerance and extremism. She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and she published her story in a book.
Finally, in 2014, Yousafazi won the Nobel Peace Prize. However, all of this activity never stopped her from studying. She has just finished her A Level exams with excellent grades, and now she's planning to go to the university at Oxford or Stanford.
You can watch her speech at the UN here (Spanish subtitles).
You can also read more about her story and do some exercises at Guardian News Lessons.
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