6 Reasons Malala Yousafzai is the Most Inspirational Person of the Year

It’s been one year since Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban for advocating education. Since her miraculous recovery, she’s been working tirelessly to spread the message that Education is Power. Though only 16 years old, she has been more fearless and productive at such an early age than most of will manage in a lifetime. In fact, her story’s already inspired a memoir, I Am Malala, released last month. To celebrate the book, and its co-author’s achievements, here are the reasons Malala is our pick for the most inspirational person of the year:
She wants to return home. Despite the continued and increasing threats on her life, and the chokehold the Taliban has on her home in the Swat Valley, Malala intends to return to the place she where she first realized education’s importance. “First, I need to empower myself with knowledge, with education. I need to work hard,” she says. “And when I [am] powerful, then I will go back to Pakistan, inshallah [God willing].” Girl is fearless.
She wants to go into politics. She feels the need to help her country, and to do that, she plans to become prime minister. “There are so many crises and no real leaders,” says Malala.  “Through politics I can save my whole country. I can spend much of the budget on education and I can also concentrate on foreign affairs.” Is there a way she can become prime minister of both the U.S. and Pakistan? Are there rules about that?
She started the Malala Fund. This amazing organization invests in the most effective projects to help the 60 million girls in the developing world receive education. Next time you’re about to donate to your boyfriend’s friend’s new banjo album on Kickstarter, consider giving the money to the Malala Fund instead!
She’s the youngest ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Many thought she wasn’t the right choice for the prize, but in the past, the winner has typically been someone who is “an aspirational figure, someone who could potentially bring political or social change, even if it hasn’t happened yet,” so she more than fits the bill. Even though she didn’t win this year, we have a feeling it won’t be the last time she’s nominated.
She’s incredibly forgiving. This is where Malala gives us chills of admiration. Most of us would want revenge, whether on the man who shot us or on the Taliban itself, but Malala says, “I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him…I don’t want revenge on the Taliban, I want education for sons and daughters of the Taliban.”
She knows she can do even more. “When I think of myself, I have a lot to do,” she says, “So I think that it’s really an early age, and I would feel proud when I would work for education, when I would have done something, when I would be feeling confident to tell people, Yes! I have built that school, I have done that teachers’ training, I have sent that much children to school. When I will be feeling proud. Then if I get the Nobel Peace Prize, I will be saying, Yeah, I deserve it, somehow. Still, I need to work a lot. I need to work a lot. And I must work a lot.”
Let this motivate all of us to work harder at what we believe in and raise our voices when we see injustice! Or if Malala just inspires you to take the SAT’s another time because you know you can do better, then that’s good too. Education is power!
What’s the most inspiring book you’ve ever read?