Born in 1997 in a Pakistani family, Malala's family was ready to raise her as the equivalent of any man who would grow up in their society. Her father, himself a teacher, made sure that she went to school and also learned from the teachings of the world. In 2007, when she was ten years old, Malala's home in the Swat Valley was taken over by Taliban forces, and in 2008 they banned the girls from going to school. In early 2009, Malala began writing for the BBC under the pseudonym Gul Makai, where she described her life as a woman in her society as well as her feelings about the closure of her school. The Pakistani army then entered the Swat valley to try to drive out the Taliban. Between May and October 2009, more than a million people fled the valley to other parts of Pakistan. In 2011, the Taliban reluctantly withdrew, but not too far from the area. Malala and her father's school are able to reopen and Malala is using this time to campaign for more women to attend school despite some fears of speaking out against the Taliban. At the age of fourteen, Malala received Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize. Due to her active role in the campaign against the ideas of the Taliban, Malala was targeted and then shot on her school bus in the head, neck and shoulder. After being flown to the UK, Malala underwent months of rehabilitation including surgery and therapy. Two months after being released from the hospital, Malala returned to school. The UN has since declared July 12, Malala's birthday, Malala Day, which it uses each year to work with girls in need of help. After years of work and meetings with world leaders in 2014, Malala and a group of girls from Syria, Nigeria and Pakistan flew to Oslo, where Malala became the youngest person to ever win the prize Nobel Peace Prize. Malala now studies at Oxford University, but she continues to work for women's rights in all their forms. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayAs a young adult woman in a society built on the actions of adult men, I have often felt helpless and almost defeated. What Malala did, at the age she did it, is something we are all capable of doing if we focus on a cause that matters to us. While we can't necessarily understand having to protest a war raging in our country, Malala's message is simply about doing what's right for others. My favorite thing about Malala's work is that she doesn't jump headfirst into a concept she couldn't understand, but into something she experienced herself. In a sense, she was fighting for others but also for herself, on the sidelines. My passion for Malala's cause is strengthened by the extremes she has gone to to fight for something people consider every day. She was only about twelve years old when she began writing against the Taliban. It wasn't like she was writing about a small rebel group or something that was happening around the world, but it resonated with her personally in her own hometown. Malala crosses borders every day continuing her fight for women around the world.