On this Date - Aislinn Langley

On October 9th 2012, a 15 year old girl was shot by the Taliban on her way home from school. Malala Yousafzai is an advocate for women's education in Northwest Pakistan, where women's education has been repeatedly banned by the Taliban. She became an internationally-known activist, which incidentally put a rather large target on her back.
After miraculously surviving the assassination attempt, she became a sensation. Her story spread to millions

and sparked humanitarian action across the globe - most notably, a UN bill that led to Pakistan's first Right the Education Bill. She met with world leaders and was interviewed on countless news outlets and talk shows. The spike in interest in girl's education and empowerment she arose with her activism and survival was further increased a year later with the release of her biography titled  I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot By the Taliban.

Almost exactly two years later, she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her continued work in promoting human rights and children's education. The youngest person to ever be awarded the Nobel Prize, Malala continues to struggle against the suppression of women and children.

I'm repeatedly awed and inspired by Malala's story. I remember being extremely upset about the fact that she didn't win the Nobel Prize last year (not at all to say that the OPCW didn't also deserve it) and I was beyond ecstatic when I woke up the other day to see I had a notification from CNN telling me that she had been awarded it this year. It's completely mind-blowing that a girl my age has prompted so much social change. Reading her story and finding out more and more about her just makes me want to strive that much more to fight for what I believe in. And if her story has affected even a fraction of the world's girls as much as it has me, then I have no doubt that change will follow and big progress will be made.