By Katalina Lawrence

Staff Writer

I was recently watching an episode of “20/20” in which Diane Sawyer interviewed a petite, young and seemingly ordinary girl from Pakistan named Malala Yousafzai.

But as the show continued I realized that she is definitely out of the ordinary; she is extraordinary.

The road to equality in our country is vibrant and exciting. Education is a natural right for all people in our country, and it is something easily taken for granted. However, in certain parts of the world, education is something that is exclusively permitted to the male gender only, making many young girls’ dreams just a distant memory.

The Taliban bombed and banned all the girl schools in Pakistan, preventing many young women from getting an education. Dreams were shattered because of the extreme traditional ideas. The woman’s place is not in school but in the home, where they are barely seen and never heard. This did not stop Malala Yousafzai. She had dreams of becoming a doctor and she was not letting the Taliban hold her back. Malala began to write a blog under the BBC, about her life, and her views on education for girls. Her activism became even more known when the New York Times created a documentary about her as a young girl living under Taliban rule.

Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, pushed Malala. He told her that she could do and be whoever she wanted no matter the circumstance and when the Taliban put threats on her life, he did not make her stop the fight. They both knew that she was fighting for something greater than her, it was a fight for equality.

Malala was a threat in the Taliban’s eyes and her strength frightened them. On October 9, 2012, they shot Malala in the head while riding the bus with friends. Her survival from such gun shots was a true miracle, and it told the world that no one could hold this young girl down.

Malala has shown courage, dignity, and passion for educational equality in front of us all. She has paved the way for young girls around the world who only see the simple right of education as just a dream. Malala has shown us the true meaning of strength and we can all learn from her. Global Organizations stand next to Malala in the fight for educational equality world wide. Her heroic acts also led to her being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest person to ever be nominated.

I truly hope that no other young girl or woman in any part of the world has to ever face an assassin because of their dreams to have an education. We do not need to wait for another Malala Yousafzai to come around to fight for this simple right. There must be a change in the equality for women and education and the time is now. The fight is not over until every girl and woman are able to get an education and be the person they dream of being.