Today, on this anniversary of one of the worst attacks in history, my chapter in I Am Malala , coincides in a haunting way. She recounts her vague memories of that day that changed everything for them, at the same time I reflect on that event that changed so much - if not everything - for us in America. She didn't understand at the time, nor did anyone really, just what had happened, how, or why. She was only four, but would soon discover that even though it happened thousands of miles away in a place she had never heard of, they would soon find themselves in the middle of a war.

Malala speaks fondly of her home. As a beautiful valley where the rich come to vacation. A far cry from the terrorist-laden Pakistan that I've been taught to imagine. Here are some images found using Google Earth : From a bridge a few miles from Malala's school. Follow this downstream and you would almost run into the street it is on. Location of the school. No street views available anywhere close. Very few street views are available in the region at all.  Another view from the same bridge as above. She also shares about the volatile history of her country. How people pushed and shoved, even as recently as the last one hundred years, to gain control, break the long held traditions, push ideologies on the entire country, and literally rewrite history books. While I'm finding it hard to keep all of the names and dates in the right order, one thing is for certain, in the midst of the beautiful mountains of her home, Malala reveals the chaos of the political hi...

The opening line of the book gives me goosebumps: "I come from a country that was created at midnight." Wow. I'm not entirely sure what she means by that, only that it suggests  so much. Secrets. Mutiny. Dedication. Passion. Constant movement. Fear. Strategy. Perhaps it is none of these. But perhaps it is all of them. What strikes me in the first few pages of this text are both the shocking differences of Malala's home but also the incredible similarities. She is surprised by the running water and packaged food of the modern world, suggesting she didn't have that at home. She uses oil lamps. Muddy lanes instead of tiny pavements. A school without a sign declaring it an educational institution because of the animosity of the Taliban. Being afraid of getting shot on the way to and from school. But, she spends time in school drawing diagrams of blood circulation. Students grumbling about tests. Buildboards about hair transplants. Justin Bieber music and ...

As an educator, I'm always interested in finding out about others who value education and why they are passionate. We all have a story about why we are investing in students. I'm also incredibly curious to learn about Malala; for someone to risk their life, take a bullet, for something, they must have an unswerving devotion to that idea. I'm moved and encouraged by people like that, individuals who will invest passionately in a people or a cause because of their love for it/them and the value they place on it. I haven't even cracked the book open and I'm already so excited to read about this young, world-changing woman.