The year is 2015. President Obama welcomes a teenage warrior to a rostrum, somewhere in the White House.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you everybody for this great honor.
I stand before you as someone who is very clear and yet very disoriented. I could never have imagined this fame. I could also never have imagined that I will get this fame and these honors simply for wanting something that is so basic. All I wanted was knowledge. All I demanded was my right to an education.
I am a simple Pakistani girl. We live simple lives in Swat. Uncomplicated. Happy. With small pleasures of eating apples and apricots from the orchards, or playing hide and seek in the forest.
I love my country, Pakistan, deeply. It is the only place I have ever known. I love my life there, and I could never wish living anywhere else.
But I also love to learn. I like going to school. I like my friends there, my teachers and my books.
In 2009, when the Taliban took control of Swat, they shut down the schools and forbade girls from getting an education. I did not understand why education for girls needed to be banned.
I was lucky to have my father and my mother. And my love for knowledge. I could not stay away from it. When you love something very much, you express your love without thinking. You cannot stop it, or stay away from it.
I did not search for popularity. I searched for a way to go back to school.
When I was shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012, I did not know what my crime was. I knew my life was in danger, like it was for so many of my family members and so many others in Swat. Life is in God's hands. I will die the day I am meant to die. But until I live, I am meant to learn. And so I will.
I have met children here in this country, in the United States. They are lucky. But I do not wish to live here. This is not my country. My country is Pakistan. In Swat, I have to insist on my right to an education. And it is a fulfilling struggle. When I look at that blackboard, open my book, write a sentence and come back thinking about stars and rainbows, about mountains and cities, all that is more satisfying because I have earned that knowledge. I did not get it as a free gift. And tomorrow, I want to work harder to keep learning.
I do not want to be a political symbol. I do not even understand politics. But if I can be an inspiration to my people and to others on the wonders of learning, of education and of believing in what is right, then I will continue to inspire. I will not rest. It is my goal in my life to be a doctor. One day, I will be one.
I ask for your support in making education possible for everyone, especially girls. It is girls who will bear the future generations. It is they who need to know the value and the glory of a good education.
We will achieve what is a God-given right that no one can deny us.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you everybody for this great honor.
I stand before you as someone who is very clear and yet very disoriented. I could never have imagined this fame. I could also never have imagined that I will get this fame and these honors simply for wanting something that is so basic. All I wanted was knowledge. All I demanded was my right to an education.
I am a simple Pakistani girl. We live simple lives in Swat. Uncomplicated. Happy. With small pleasures of eating apples and apricots from the orchards, or playing hide and seek in the forest.
I love my country, Pakistan, deeply. It is the only place I have ever known. I love my life there, and I could never wish living anywhere else.
But I also love to learn. I like going to school. I like my friends there, my teachers and my books.
In 2009, when the Taliban took control of Swat, they shut down the schools and forbade girls from getting an education. I did not understand why education for girls needed to be banned.
I was lucky to have my father and my mother. And my love for knowledge. I could not stay away from it. When you love something very much, you express your love without thinking. You cannot stop it, or stay away from it.
I did not search for popularity. I searched for a way to go back to school.
When I was shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012, I did not know what my crime was. I knew my life was in danger, like it was for so many of my family members and so many others in Swat. Life is in God's hands. I will die the day I am meant to die. But until I live, I am meant to learn. And so I will.
I have met children here in this country, in the United States. They are lucky. But I do not wish to live here. This is not my country. My country is Pakistan. In Swat, I have to insist on my right to an education. And it is a fulfilling struggle. When I look at that blackboard, open my book, write a sentence and come back thinking about stars and rainbows, about mountains and cities, all that is more satisfying because I have earned that knowledge. I did not get it as a free gift. And tomorrow, I want to work harder to keep learning.
I do not want to be a political symbol. I do not even understand politics. But if I can be an inspiration to my people and to others on the wonders of learning, of education and of believing in what is right, then I will continue to inspire. I will not rest. It is my goal in my life to be a doctor. One day, I will be one.
I ask for your support in making education possible for everyone, especially girls. It is girls who will bear the future generations. It is they who need to know the value and the glory of a good education.
We will achieve what is a God-given right that no one can deny us.
Thank you.
