As I was driving into work this morning, I was listening to my habitual BBC World Service and was jolted by an interview with a school friend of the famous Malala Yousafzai, called Shazia Ramzan.
She has recently moved to continue her education in the UK amid all the uncertainty in her native Pakistan.
Her passion was evident in the interview, the answers she gave to the reporter simply inspiring, and the persistent almost dogged conviction that she would become a doctor and go back to help the poor in her homeland utterly humbling.
She has a choice of subject now - something withheld from her in Pakistan - and while she's getting to grips with chemistry and global politics, it is biology that still gives her fire in her belly. The desire for self-betterment that would then eventually and ultimately give sustenance and care to the underprivileged back home had my emotions racing.
This 15 year old, whose spirits had not been dampened by her friend being shot in the head on their school bus, is still fighting for the right for education for all - especially girls in Pakistan. And shows no sign of relenting.
At her age, I was busy preparing for my O-Levels, as they were then, having home-organ lessons, was very insular about what England should be about and rather looking forward to a family holiday in Tunisia - what an adventure. I had no cares in the world (apart from coming to terms with the fact that I liked boys instead of girls) but looking back the issues all see incredibly minor in comparison.
Just to have access to education, being a girl, is not universally a given and it is shameful that, as a species, we have not made this happen.
When you go through today and a problem is solved thanks to the education you've had - however small, like checking the bill from the restaurant - maths, or knowing that electricity & water don't mix when you splash some on a plug socket - physics, or understanding why in democracies, a proposed bill is read twice (or sometimes thrice) before it becomes law - history or political science, be thankful you went to school. Be thankful you had access to learning.
Education sets us free, it makes our leaders accountable because they can't hide behind our ignorance.
Education and learning makes us all better human beings. What is amazing is not that Shazia, who could hardly speak English a month ago, just gave a full blown interview on the BBC in that tongue, but rather that she values education so much, she is driven by the singular desire to give something back and help ensure other girls in Pakistan get access to the classroom too.
An amazingly brave girl - just like Malala.
She has recently moved to continue her education in the UK amid all the uncertainty in her native Pakistan.
Her passion was evident in the interview, the answers she gave to the reporter simply inspiring, and the persistent almost dogged conviction that she would become a doctor and go back to help the poor in her homeland utterly humbling.
She has a choice of subject now - something withheld from her in Pakistan - and while she's getting to grips with chemistry and global politics, it is biology that still gives her fire in her belly. The desire for self-betterment that would then eventually and ultimately give sustenance and care to the underprivileged back home had my emotions racing.
This 15 year old, whose spirits had not been dampened by her friend being shot in the head on their school bus, is still fighting for the right for education for all - especially girls in Pakistan. And shows no sign of relenting.
At her age, I was busy preparing for my O-Levels, as they were then, having home-organ lessons, was very insular about what England should be about and rather looking forward to a family holiday in Tunisia - what an adventure. I had no cares in the world (apart from coming to terms with the fact that I liked boys instead of girls) but looking back the issues all see incredibly minor in comparison.
Just to have access to education, being a girl, is not universally a given and it is shameful that, as a species, we have not made this happen.
When you go through today and a problem is solved thanks to the education you've had - however small, like checking the bill from the restaurant - maths, or knowing that electricity & water don't mix when you splash some on a plug socket - physics, or understanding why in democracies, a proposed bill is read twice (or sometimes thrice) before it becomes law - history or political science, be thankful you went to school. Be thankful you had access to learning.
Education sets us free, it makes our leaders accountable because they can't hide behind our ignorance.
Education and learning makes us all better human beings. What is amazing is not that Shazia, who could hardly speak English a month ago, just gave a full blown interview on the BBC in that tongue, but rather that she values education so much, she is driven by the singular desire to give something back and help ensure other girls in Pakistan get access to the classroom too.
An amazingly brave girl - just like Malala.
