For most of us, when we were 12 years old, schoolwork and video games may well be our only memories of those days. If we remember guns being pointed at our heads, we think that we must be remembering video games or movies.
Unluckily, at age 12, that was Malala Yousafzai's real life.
Malala lived a quiet life in Pakistan until 2009, when the Taliban, an Islamic organization of violence(暴力) took control of her village. They forbade girls to go to school as groups. They believe that educating girls is against Islam. But Malala didn't agree. She wrote on the BBC site, "We want all girls to get their schools back."
However, her actions put her in danger. On Oct 9, 2012, when Malala was taking a bus a man from the Taliban holding a gun shot her in the head. Luckily, the shot didn't kill her. She was taken to a hospital in the UK, and she gradually recovered.
The shot didn't kill her courage to carry on, either. She set up the Malala Fund, which helped put 40 girls from her former home province in Pakistan into schools.
Malala has become an international symbol of inspiration and bravery, commented BBC News. Her survival has instilled(渗透) educators with courage and is slowly helping make Pakistani schools safer.
Malala said in her speech, "The terrorists(恐怖分子) thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born."
On Oct 10, the European Union awarded Malala its top human rights prize. She was considered an icon (符号) of courage for all teenagers who dared to follow their aspirations .