Malala Day London: ‘I want to be a lawyer, doctor or scientist’

Just over a month ago I had the pleasure of attending the Malala Day event in London alongside students of all ages and from throughout the UK.

I was curious to find out more about what brought these students to the Southbank Centre and how much they knew about Malala. After the event I was able to catch up with a group of year 9 students from the Sarah Bonnell Girl’s School in South London and get to know a bit about their backgrounds.

What first struck me as I spoke to the girls was that they already knew a lot about the issue. One of the students, Arlina Hysena, told me “we started a club at our school after we found out about Malala – we even wrote to the Government in support of her!”

The group of girls were only a couple of years younger than Malala, and seem to share many of the same hopes and aspirations. “I want to be a lawyer, a doctor or a scientist” Arlina told me.  The girls had clearly been inspired by Malala. “I think Malala is very inspirational and she makes us realize that we are very fortunate to go to school, even though we do take it for granted” Sabrina Husain said, “she is a very good example to girls in Pakistan because they should speak up for what they believe in”.

The girls’ reactions highlighted the success of Malala Day in inspiring young people. Malala’s message resonated with them, as I’m sure it did with many others around the world. Moving on from Malala Day, it’s important to not let this momentum fade. There are many ways for all of us to continue supporting Malala’s message and encourage students to keep raising their voices.

A World at School invites you to get involved and lend your voice through following our campaigns and signing our latest petitions:

• Join the over 4 million people standing with Malala to build a World at School and learning by 2015 – Click here to sign up and stand with Malala.

• Help get 10.5 million children in Nigeria into school and protect those already there – Click here to take action now and sign the petition demanding the government take concrete steps to make sure all children can go to school free from the threat of violence.

• Join in with the world’s youth in demanding the education we want – Click here to read and share the UN resolution drafted and passed by young people from across the globe.