On October 9^th, 2009, I arrived home from school and played video games with my brother. On the same day, the Taliban shot a Pakistani girl of my same age in the head and neck in an assassination attempt. That ensuing weekend, I slept in and played flag football, while she remained in critical condition and was eventually sent to England for extensive rehabilitation procedures. Her name is Malala Yousafzai; she is currently sixteen years old and still on the Taliban’s hit list.

At age 11, while most of us were in our first year of middle school, Malala was writing a blog advocating for women’s education in Pakistan and about her life under the tyranny of the Taliban. By the next summer, a documentary was being filmed about her life during a Pakistani military intervention. As her prominence grew, so did the danger surrounding her, which culminated into an attempted assassination by the Taliban during October of 2012.

While most would abandon ideals when faced with such horrific adversity, Malala seemed strengthened by the tragedy. She quickly resumed her campaign for women’s education in Pakistan, aided by the outcry of countries worldwide, as well as the United Nations council. Malala has received many awards from her struggle, most recently being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Her Nobel Prize nomination had not come as a surprise, and it was widely believed that she was a shoe-in for receiving the honor. To the disbelief of many, however, Malala lost this competition of peace making to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. While her supporters everywhere were outraged, I personally am not really sure why. What is an award to a girl who has been advocating quite successfully for women’s education in the world’s sixth highest populated country? In fact, some people argue that the award would have heightened the target already on her and her family by the Taliban.

Malala’s list of achievements is already as long as the deli line at lunch, including a push for Pakistan’s “Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill,” signed in 2012. Now, all kids between ages 5 and 16 are guaranteed free education. Was that not the goal, instead of earning a prize? For those supporters of Yousafzai who are outraged by her lack of Nobel Peace Prizes, I assure you, her visions are becoming a reality today.