Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head for advocating education, graduates

Malala Yousafzai became well known in October 2012 when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head. The reason was that she was advocating for girls in Pakistan to get an education. She was traveling on a bus back to her village after she had taken an exam at school.

People might have thought after that tragedy Malala would have given up, but she didn't. In fact, her personal tragedy gave her more strength and motivation to continue with the mission she has had since she was 11. She will turn 20 years old in a few days on July 12.

Malala's journey

On Friday, July 7, Malala completed her schooling in Britain.

She celebrated by opening a Twitter account for the very first time. Within three hours, she had 134,000 followers and congratulatory messages, including one from UNICEF, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She shared the exciting news about her last day of school on her first post. She acknowledged that her graduation was bittersweet. That's because while she was able to get an education, there are many other girls around the world who will not get that opportunity.

After she was shot, people around the world rallied around her and supported her cause. In 2014, two years after the shooting, Malala received a Nobel Peace Prize because of her human rights advocacy.

She became the youngest recipient of that prize. That was not the only honor she has been the youngest to receive. This year, she was awarded an honorary Canadian citizenship and became the youngest person to address the House of Common of Canada.

Education

Since March 2013, a year after her head injury, Malala had been a student at Edgbaston High School, an all-girls' school in Birmingham where she was treated after she was shot in the head.

After the tragedy, Yousafzai promised she would continue advocating for the rights of girls to get an education. She kept her promise and has become a global figure for that cause. Now that she has graduated from high school, she tweeted that she is excited about her future.

What's next

Yousafzai plans to continue her education so she can be better equipped to help others.

She has been offered a place at Oxford University where she will study Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. The title sounds like three courses, but it is one high-level course that many British politicians and world leaders have taken. The late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto reportedly took that course that helped him become a better leader.

Congratulations are extended to Malala for completing her high school courses and for becoming a Tweeter user.