LONDON – College is often said to be crucial to molding future leaders, but the University of Oxford will soon welcome a student who has accomplished what takes some years to achieve.
Twenty-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai tweeted her acceptance to the prestigious university Thursday morning.
According to the New York Times, in March Oxford’s Lady Margaret Hall extended a conditional offer that was based on Yousafzai’s exam results.
The newspaper also noted that Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first female prime minister, also studied at Lady Margaret Hall in the 1970s.
In her Twitter post, Yousafzai said she is planning to study philosophy, politics and economics (or PPE as it’s known in Britain). The Guardian called it “the Oxford degree that runs Britain.”
In 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in her home country of Pakistan – targeted for her work advocating girls’ education – on the way home from school. She was 15.
In 2014, she was flown to Britain for medical treatment and reconstructive surgery and relocated to Birmingham, England, with her family after her recovery.
Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education” that same year, which she shared with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi. She is the award’s youngest recipient. The youngest before her was 32..
In April, she was named the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace, with a special focus on girls’ education.
Her father, Ziauddin, congratulated her on his own Twitter account:
Yousafzai and Ziauddin founded the Malala Fund in October 2013.
Click here to read more about Yousafzai’s story and the Malala Fund.
Related links:
Malala named youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace
Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi share Nobel Peace Prize
