Aisha Saeed - She Persisted: Malala Yousafzai

She Persisted: MARIAN ANDERSON

She Persisted: VIRGINIA APGAR

She Persisted: NELLIE BLY

She Persisted: RUBY BRIDGES

She Persisted: CLAUDETTE COLVIN

She Persisted: ROSALIND FRANKLIN

She Persisted: TEMPLE GRANDIN

She Persisted: FLORENCE GRIFFITH JOYNER

She Persisted: HELEN KELLER

She Persisted: CORETTA SCOTT KING

She Persisted: CLARA LEMLICH

She Persisted: MAYA LIN

She Persisted: WANGARI MAATHAI

She Persisted: WILMA MANKILLER

She Persisted: PATSY MINK

She Persisted: SALLY RIDE

She Persisted: MARGARET CHASE SMITH

She Persisted: SONIA SOTOMAYOR

She Persisted: MARIA TALLCHIEF

She Persisted: DIANA TAURASI

She Persisted: HARRIET TUBMAN

She Persisted: OPRAH WINFREY

She Persisted: MALALA YOUSAFZAI

On July 12, 1997, in the Pakistani city of Mingora, snug in the lush Swat Valley, a baby girl was born. Her father gazed down starry-eyed at his firstborn child and thought about the legendary Afghan poet Malalai of Maiwand, who was famous for her courage and convictions. He smiled and said he would name his daughter Malala.

Pakistans Swat Valley is famous for its snow-capped mountains, flower-filled meadows, and clear blue lakes. People travel from all over the world to vacation there. They hike the mountains, enjoy the local hospitality, and take part in the joyful summer festivals. Malalas early years were peaceful and happy in this scenic wonderland. She played with her friends and she also spent time with her two younger brothers (sometimes she arm wrestled them!). But even as a small child, Malalas favorite place to be was school. She felt at home there. Her father was a teacher and ran several schools for girls in their community. When she was very little, before she could even speak, she would wander into his classrooms while he was teaching. Sometimes she would even pretend to be the teacher!

As Malala continued to grow, both her curiosity and love for learning grew as well. She spoke three different languages: Pashto, Urdu, and English. She was a hardworking student and loved going to school, learning new things, and being with her friends. She even loved the pens and notebooks with which she wrote down what she was learning. She often daydreamed about all the things she wanted to do when she grew up. She knew she wanted to help people, so she thought about becoming a doctor, and later, she thought she might want to become a politician. Malala greatly admired Benazir Bhutto, who had been Pakistans first female prime ministerthe leader of Pakistans government. She thought that becoming a prime minster would be a job that could help her assist even more people than being a doctor would. Her father encouraged Malala to soar as high as her dreams could take her. Malala was grateful to her father for not clipping her wings.

Malala loved school and was sad when she learned that not all children were as lucky as she was to attend classes and learn. One day, when Malala was young, she went to drop off garbage at the local dump. She winced at the strong smell and tried her best not to get her clothing and shoes dirty. As she neared the garbage, she saw that there were children digging through the trash. Malala was surprised and confused. A little girl sorted some of the rubbish and placed it in piles. A few boys were fishing for metal scraps among the heap.

The kids looked like they were Malalas age. She looked at the little girl, trying to remember her from any of her classes, but it didnt seem like the girl went to her school. Why havent I seen her in my classes? Malala wondered.