Malala Yousafzai: Wise Beyond Her Years, But Still a Teenager
Over the past year, Malala Yousafzai has used the international attention to turn her tragic story of overcoming a barbaric shooting by the Taliban to a positive one by amplifying and championing the voices of girls globally. She has visited with her peers across the world on behalf of The Malala Fund, advocated for girls’ education with global leaders, and invested in community-centered, scalable solutions that provide quality education to girls around the world.
Last week, I was fortunate to receive an invitation to attend the sold-out Times Talk with Malala Yousafzai, hosted by the New York Times. The almost 90-minute interview was conducted by Times reporter Jodi Kantor, an accomplished journalist as well as a mother of one young daughter.
During the talk, topics ranged from Malala’s discussions with President Obama to meeting Queen Elizabeth. Malala shared some advice that the President had given her: “Don’t join politics too early—your hair will turn grey!”
Ms. Kantor touched upon how Malala has changed since her tragic shooting. What became apparent to me is that although her maturity and poise are off the charts, she is still a typical teenager with hopes, dreams, and friendships that she often references in interviews and talks. Just like many girls her age, she grew up listening to Justin Bieber, watching Ugly Betty DVDs, and dreaming of vampires while watching the Twilight series.
Malala’s warm and innocent sense of humor was evident when Kantor referred to a line in the young readers’ edition of her best-selling book, I Am Malala: “When she first started watching American and British TV, @Malala thought there was a clothing shortage in both those countries as skirts were so short.”
Clearly wise beyond her years, Malala’s insights about education and activism were both articulate and powerful. “Let us pick up our books and our pens. Education is the only solution,” she said. Later: “Change comes when WE become the change, when women step forward.” If you closed your eyes, you could easily forget that the woman being interviewed was, in fact, a teenager.
The fact that Malala is only seventeen years old is, simply, astounding. As I listened to her speak, I saw glimmers of her youth shine through. She holds hour-long Skype sessions with her friends back in Pakistan, speaks quickly, brims with enthusiasm, and never waivers from her optimism. She jokes about being her mom’s favorite, pokes fun at her dad’s cooking, misses her best friend, Moniba, and loves playing Candy Crush. She also received a C in biology.
As articulate as she is optimistic, Malala’s poise, intelligence, and idealism make her the perfect person to lead a movement in support of girls’ education. Seeing her “teenage” side come through at the Times Talk was truly a treat.
Malala is a leader, full of grace and intellect. But she can also be relatable, especially to the community she represents. This blend of wide-eyed, relatable optimism with a bold and worldly composure is what makes Malala so special and, probably most importantly, effective in her global advocacy on behalf of education for all.
