A TWEET INTO THE FUTURE: The dreams of a girl who dreams for other girls.

Guest Writer: Ebenezar Wikina

Monday, 23rd September 2013: it started like an ordinary Monday; grumpy, slow, and work promising. After my usual morning prayers I decided to surf the web to see what's new in the world, and I saw a captivating tweet by @malalafund that reads; ''Malala will be making her twitter debut today, send your questions with the hashtag (#Malalafund).'' ''Oh my God!'' I screamed in my head, as I sat up to digest this golden information--in fact, it felt like I had just eaten breakfast--my Monday had just turned around. I celebrated at the thought of actually seeing a 140 character tweet from Malala herself, and the very slim chance of a getting a reply tweet from her, that is, if I'm able to squeeze my questions across to her through the millions of tweets that will be sent to her that evening. I didn't want to get disappointed, so I didn't think about that much. I just wanted to see Malala tweet, and know what she's been up to lately.

Well,to scissors the story short, I was able to brainstorm and carefully send two questions over to her. I stalled @malalafund all day like paparazzi stalking Hollywood stars at the entrance of restaurants. ''Just in case she decides to tweet earlier than the announced time, I'd be here waiting'', I thought to myself. Finally a picture of Malala sitting in front of a mac book was uploaded by @malalafund, and at exactly 7.30pm Nigerian time Malala greeted the world with her first ever tweet. She explained what the tweet session was about and then said she was going to answer the questions sent to her next. Guess what she tweeted after that?

Malala's reply to Ebenezar

I couldn't believe it at first, I thought my mobile phone and eyes were playing a trick on me. I closed the web page and reloaded it just to clear my doubts. (Loading...) I watched the page open slowly before my eyes. Alas! it became reality, I just got a tweet from Malala, and I didn't just get a tweet, I am the first person she tweeted at on her twitter debut. I couldn't contain the happiness, so I quickly ran to Facebook to break the good news. All my friends celebrated with me like I've just won a Nobel Prize. It was indeed a great honour, how did this happen? I ask; maybe it's because I've been a dedicated Malala fan; praying for her when she was shot in 2012; following news about her all through her recovery process; reading her speech at the UN over and over; and supporting her campaign for girls education on social media. Maybe it's just luck, chance, or... I don't know; find your own nomenclature to describe it. But the fact remains that, I was truly excited at this honour, and I'd always cherish Monday, 23rd September 2013, 7.32pm—a beautiful moment in time.

Enough of the euphoria though (hehehe). Now let's look at the content of the tweet and how it relates to her future and the future of girls around the world. The tweet is a response to the question I sent to her, asking about her future career, and if she'd like to be a teacher. Well, from her response, let's say I pretty much guessed right. Malala will do great in the Educational sector because she has a natural inclination for it. Just like her dad, I can see her building many schools for Pakistani girls and championing the girl child education cause around the world, in the nearest future. Then she said politics? Uhmm... (hehe) I didn't see that coming you know? But on a second thought, don't you think that will just be awesome? Imagine an all grown up Malala at her late 20s or early 30s contesting for the presidency of Pakistan. Who can stand up against her? (LoL) Or to think more globally, she could become a future Director of UNESCO or any other United Nations sponsored educational campaign/organization.

(Image Credit: University Hospitals Birmingham/ PA)

I can write many more paragraphs speculating on and on about her bright future, but don't forget that I'm talking about a girl who was shot in the head with blood gushing from her ear because, she wanted to be educated and campaigned for other girls to be educated as well. A teenage girl who was not scared—and is still not scared—to stand up to the Taliban whom many adults are scared of. I'm talking about courage personified! No wonder she's been honoured all over the world, and is the front runner for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. She was also among TIME Magazine's 2013 list of most influential people on earth, won the International children's peace prize last month, as well as many other accolades too numerous to mention.

What can we learn from Malala? What can girls all over the world learn from this gem? One lesson stands tall among many others; be brave! Face your weaknesses, face your fears, pursue your dreams, fight for people that are weak, and fight conflict with peace. Malala said in her recently published autobiography—I AM MALALA—that even if she had a gun and had the chance to shoot the same Talib who shot her and her friends that fateful day in October 2012, that she wouldn't. What could be more peaceful than that? That's the kind of heart we all need to make the world a better place, and I think even our world leaders can learn from this brave girl.

For now Malala will remain that extraordinarily ordinary teenage girl who loves; listening to Justin Bieber and Munni Begum; watching Twilight; playing cricket; and preparing for her GCSE exams coming up soon. I wish her and every other girl in the world, good luck as they pursue their dreams for a better future. Happy girl child day!