Malala Almost Died Trying To Get An Education — Today She Started At Oxford

Her first day at Oxford was exactly five years after she was shot by the Taliban

Malala Yousafzai survived being shot by the Taliban, won a Nobel Prize at only 16 years old, and bravely spoke out about life in Pakistan under the rule of the Taliban, inspiring millions all over the world.

Now, she’s headed to Oxford — and the internet couldn’t be more proud of her.

When we think of people we want our daughters to admire, Malala Yousafzai is high on the list. The 20-year-old is a brilliant human rights advocate, namely for the cause of education for women and girls. That’s why when she tweeted that she was to begin her studies at Oxford, five years to the day from when she was shot in the head for speaking out about the right girls have to receive an education, she was met with an outpouring of support.

She writes, “5 years ago, I was shot in an attempt to stop me from speaking out for girls’ education. Today, I attend my first lectures at Oxford.”

Her tweet has been retweeted and liked an astounding number of times, and it’s fitting — Yousafzai is an astounding human being. Talk about coming full circle — to start classes at an elite university exactly five years to the day after she was nearly killed for advocating for girls’ education. It’s nothing short of incredible.

It was on her way to school in 2012 when Taliban militants boarded her bus and opened fire, also injuring two of her schoolmates. She had been writing an anonymous blog about life under Taliban rule and the shooting was an attempt to silence her. After recovering from her injuries in England, she was able to attend Edgbaston High School while her father worked at the Pakistani consulate.

In the years since, Yousafzai has used her visibility to help the cause of women and girls, including meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan to push for the release of the 200 young girls held by Boko Haram.

It was this past summer that Yousafzai announced she had been accepted at Oxford’s Lady Margaret Hall college to study philosophy, politics, and economics.

Malala has already done so much to further women and girls in education — it’s only fitting that she’s about to pursue her own, and undoubtedly use it to continue her life’s work.