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"  Most teenage girls turning sixteen ask to celebrate with a super sweet party\u2014I think it&amp;#039;s safe to say Malala Yousafzai is not like most teenage girls. This past Friday, Malala celebrated her sixteenth birthday at the United Nations in New York City, demanding cumpulsory education for young people worldwide. As a representative for She&amp;#039;s The First, a nonprofit organization that sponsors girls&amp;#039; education in the developing world, I was lucky enough to be one of the 500 youth delegates in attendance for Malala&amp;#039;s first international speech. It was only a few months ago when people worldwide speculated whether or not Malala would even survive to see her sixteenth birthday. Malala was targeted by the Taliban for her brave activism for universal education and girls&amp;#039; rights in October 2012. They boarded Malala&amp;#039;s school bus and shot her and two of her best friends on their way home from school in Pakistan. After the attack, Malala was flown to the United Kingdom to recover. Miraculously, Malala is now back in school in London and her dedication to universal education has only been strengthened since she nearly lost her life. She said, &amp;quot;The terrorists thought that they could change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear, and hopelessness died. Strength, power, and courage was born.&amp;quot;  Growing up in the United States, where every girl is given the opportunity to go to school, it might be hard to understand why someone would want to kill a young schoolgirl like Malala in the first place. In her speech, Malala explained, &amp;quot;The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them.&amp;quot; As I watched Malala deliver her speech so confidently I thought to myself, &amp;quot;The power of Malala&amp;#039;s voice should frighten them.&amp;quot; Malala is living proof that it only takes one brave voice to inspire countless others. Her bravery has sparked a revolution in universal education and girls&amp;#039; rights. The United Nations declared July 12th Malala Day, but she insists it&amp;#039;s a day about giving a voice to the countless others whose voices haven&amp;#039;t been heard. &amp;quot;One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.&amp;quot; Now, it&amp;#039;s up to us to join Malala in her fight for universal education and ensure that every child gets the opportunity to go to school. You can sign Malala&amp;#039;s petition here and you can watch Malala&amp;#039;s entire speech here. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/reviews/a21139/malala-day/>