Malala Yousafzai

Her female friends never went to school.

It was actually normal and expected for a girl not to be educated.

The best that she dreamed for herself was to be married into a family where the husband is a bit poor.

kind and just lets her have her favorite food or just takes her to one of her like favorite places to visit.

That's all that she hoped for.

And that it doesn't turn out to be a horrible, abusive kind of in-laws, family or a husband.

And when I think about it, I'm like, you know, my mom's journey was not easy.

And she always says that she's so lucky that she found my dad because he is already known globally for his work.

advocacy, feminism, for standing up for women's rights, and more importantly, for letting his daughter speak.

I always tell people that there's nothing unique in my story of activism from Swat Valley.

The only thing that's unique or different is that my father did not stop me.

If more men are brave enough to

to allow the girls to do what they want or to not stop them, then we will hear different stories.

We will hear more women and girls get the opportunities that they deserve.

I know both of them are very kind and caring parents, but...

they are not just thinking as parents, but I think they're also thinking as representatives of the bigger community in Pakistan or relatives.

And sometimes I feel like there are just too many voices that are speaking when they are speaking.

And it

It affects everything, like even a decision like what I was packing for college.

My mom was packing all the traditional Pakistani clothes for me.