An Education

  Recently in a Pakistani town, a teenage girl was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban. Her name is Malala Yousufzai, and she was targeted because she supports education for girls. Education is something Americans take for granted, while others are willing to die for the right to an education.

Malala has been an activist for the right of education for years. She started writing a blog for the BBC network when she was just a seventh grader. In her blog she writes about her life in Swat Valley, and living under the Taliban rule. She also writes about the ban the Taliban put on girls going to school, while the boys were still allowed to go, and her views on it. She began to do interviews on print and on television, and is a chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat. Malala even won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize. The Taliban took her education away from her, and she wanted to share that with as many people she could.

Malala is a very brave girl who fought for the right to an education. Education is something that Americans are required to have, and something they don't think twice about. In fact, most teenagers in America only complain about school. To them, school is the last place they ever want to be. But to people in countries where school isn't an option to most, all they want is the chance to go to school. Many Americans waste their education, never paying attention or doing their work, and dropping out. The ones who do good in school get the chance to go to college, furthering their ability to do well in life. Most never realize how blessed they were to have the chance at an education.  

A Girl Worth Fighting For

          Everyone knows the plot of a Disney Princess movie. Girl meets boy, then girl falls in love with boy, and boy and girl live happily ever after once the villain has been defeated. One particular Disney movie has always fit into the “one of these things is not like the other” category. That movie would be Mulan.

          Mulan is the story of a brave Chinese girl living in the Han Dynasty. When the Huns invade China, the emperor commands that a man from each family must join the Chinese Military. Mulan's father is an elderly warrior, and the only man in the family. Seeing that her father will surely die if he goes to war, Mulan takes matters into her own hands and leaves her family in the middle of the night to pose as a young man to take the place of her father, despite knowing that if she is caught she will be killed. After a rough start at the military training camp where she is, Mulan eventually flourishes into a skilled warrior along with her other soldiers. As she trains under the instruction of Captain Li Shang, she begins to to fall in love with him. The group is ambushed by the Huns, and Mulan gets stabbed. Her secret of being a woman is discovered as they treat her wound. Since Mulan saved Li Shang, he spares her life, but leaves her in the snowy mountains where they thought they defeated the Huns. Mulan watches the Huns reassemble out of the snow, and rushes to the city where the emperor lives, and where the Huns plan to attack. In the end, Mulan saves all of China by fighting the Hun leader, and is rewarded greatly.

          Mulan is unlike any other Disney character because she isn't just a princess who falls in love with the handsome prince. Mulan has courage, strength, and bravery not seen in any other character. Mulan is a character that is a great role model for young girls, and a character that should inspire not just girls, but everyone, to always follow their heart. Mulan is selfless in that she'd rather risk her own life than that of someone else. Mulan never second guesses her decisions, because every time she believes she is doing the right thing. Through her courage, strength, and bravery, Mulan proves that she is a “Girl Worth Fighting For.”