I Am Malala

  On my sixteenth birthday, I was given the most extraordinary gift: I was invited to speak to the United Nations. It was the first of two trips I would make to New York that year. Four hundred people would be in attendance: high-ranking officials from all over the world. [...] My whole family traveled to New York. I like the hustle and bustle of New York. [...]
  The day of the UN speech, I was excited.
  Was it really possible that I was going to address the United Nations? How my world had changed!
  I dressed slowly that morning, putting on my favorite pink shalwar kamiz and one of Benazir Bhutto's scarves. I had not written my speech with only the delegates in mind. I wrote it for every person around the world who could take courage from my words and stand up for his or her rights. I don't want to be thought of as “the girl who was shot by the Taliban” but as “the girl who fought for education”, the girl who stands up for peace, with knowledge as her weapon. I said it in my speech:
  “Dear brothers and sisters,
  Do remember one thing, Malala Day is not my day.
  Today is the day of every woman, every boy, and every girl who has raised their voice for their rights. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists, and millions have been injured. I am just one of them.
  So here I stand... one girl among many.
  I speak not for myself, but for all girls and boys.
  I raise up my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights:
  Their right to live in peace.
  Their right to be treated with dignity.
  Their right to equality of opportunity.
  Their right to be educated.
  On the ninth of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed. And then, out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear, and hopelessness died. Strength, power, and courage were born. [...] One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
  As I heard the applause and took my seat, all I could think of was that I had come a long way. [...] To see each and every human being with a smile of true happiness is my wish.
  I am Malala. My world has changed, but I have not. [...]
  Almost two years to the day I was attacked, I received an honor so great I could hardly believe it was real: I became the youngest person ever to be awarded to Nobel Peace Prize.
  I am so grateful that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to recognize the rights of children. [...]
  The ceremony itself was beautiful and inspiring. I was so happy to be joined by my brave friends from Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria. They also had to stand up for their rights. It meant so much to me that we could experience the Nobel ceremony together. [...]
  In the last year, I have worked tirelessly in my role as an education activist through the Malala Fund. I have traveled to conflict-hit areas to raise awareness about the plight of children who are deprived of an education. I have started projects in Jordan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Nigeria. On my eighteenth birthday, I returned to the Syrian border to open a school in Lebanon for refugee children and to demand that the world leaders invest in books, not bullets. [...]
  When I get prizes, I send the money to Swat to help children to go to school or adults buy small businesses, like a shop or a taxi to drive so they can earn money for their families. We have received many letters, even one from an elderly man in Japan who wrote, “I am an old poor man but I want to help,” and sent us a note for ten thousand yen without a return address so that we couldn't thank him.
  It is people's love and encouragement that give me the energy to continue my fight. I will never give up on advocating for peace and education for all. I want to build schools and make sure there are qualified teachers in as many places as I can. That is something else that hasn't changed: I am the same stubborn girl whom will never give up.