Malala Yousafzai ‘so excited’ to go to University of Oxford

By James Masters, CNN
Updated 2:48 AM EDT, Sat August 19, 2017
01:07 - Source: CNN
Malala Yousafzai is going to Oxford University (2017)
London CNN  — 

Malala Yousafzai says she is “so excited” after being accepted to study at the world famous University of Oxford.

The 20-year-old Pakistani activist who rose to prominence after being shot in the head and neck by the Taliban while on her way home from school in 2012, has won praise for her campaigning and advocacy surrounding the rights of girls to receive education.

Already a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace, Malala will now hope to complete the prestigious Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at Oxford.

Announcing the news on Twitter, Malala wrote: “So excited to go to Oxford!! Well done to all A-level students - the hardest year. Best wishes for life ahead!”

Malala Yousafzai poses on stage in Birmingham, England, after she was announced as <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/world/europe/nobel-peace-prize/index.html">a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize</a> on Friday, October 10, 2014. Two years earlier, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after recovering from surgery, she has taken her campaign to the world stage.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Malala Yousafzai poses on stage in Birmingham, England, after she was announced as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 10, 2014. Two years earlier, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after recovering from surgery, she has taken her campaign to the world stage.
Malala and her family visit the United Nations headquarters in New York before meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images
Malala and her family visit the United Nations headquarters in New York before meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August.
Malala speaks during the Commonwealth Day observance service at Westminster Abbey in London. Malala has lived in Britain since the Taliban attack.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Arthur Edwards - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Malala speaks during the Commonwealth Day observance service at Westminster Abbey in London. Malala has lived in Britain since the Taliban attack.
Malala speaks at a youth empowerment event at London's Wembley Arena in March.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images for Free The Children
Malala speaks at a youth empowerment event at London's Wembley Arena in March.
Malala gives a copy of her book to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a reception at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Yui Mok/Pool/AP
Malala gives a copy of her book to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a reception at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
Malala addresses students and faculty of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after receiving the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award in September 2013.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Jessica Rinaldi/AP
Malala addresses students and faculty of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after receiving the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award in September 2013.
Queen Rania of Jordan presents Malala with the Leadership in Civil Society Award at the Clinton Global Citizen Awards ceremony in New York in September 2013.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Ramin Talaie/Getty Images
Queen Rania of Jordan presents Malala with the Leadership in Civil Society Award at the Clinton Global Citizen Awards ceremony in New York in September 2013.
Musician Bono, right, and Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, honor Malala with the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award at the Manison House in Dublin, Ireland, in September 2013. The award is Amnesty International's highest honor, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
PETER MUHLY/AFP/Getty Images
Musician Bono, right, and Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, honor Malala with the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award at the Manison House in Dublin, Ireland, in September 2013. The award is Amnesty International's highest honor, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights.
Malala receives a trophy from Yemeni civil rights activist Tawakkol Karman after being honored with the International Children's Peace Prize in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2013. Karman was one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2011.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
BAS CZERWINSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Malala receives a trophy from Yemeni civil rights activist Tawakkol Karman after being honored with the International Children's Peace Prize in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2013. Karman was one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2011.
Malala receives the 25th International Prize of Catalonia in July 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. The award recognizes those who have contributed to the development of cultural, scientific and human values around the world.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
QUIQUE GARCIA/AFP/Getty Images
Malala receives the 25th International Prize of Catalonia in July 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. The award recognizes those who have contributed to the development of cultural, scientific and human values around the world.
Malala is applauded before she speaks at the United Nations Youth Assembly in New York on July 12, 2013, her 16th birthday. "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," she said. "And then, out of that silence, came thousands of voices."
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Malala is applauded before she speaks at the United Nations Youth Assembly in New York on July 12, 2013, her 16th birthday. "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," she said. "And then, out of that silence, came thousands of voices."
Malala was one of seven people featured on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people edition in April 2013.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
from TIME
Malala was one of seven people featured on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people edition in April 2013.
Malala returns to school at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, on March 19, 2013. She said she had "achieved her dream."
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Liz Cave/AFP/Getty Images
Malala returns to school at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, on March 19, 2013. She said she had "achieved her dream."
Malala recovers after receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on October 19, 2012. Doctors covered the large hole in her skull with a titanium plate. The teen suffered no major brain or nerve damage, and she even kept the piece of her skull that was removed as a souvenir of her fight.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL BIRMINGHAM/AFP/Getty Images
Malala recovers after receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on October 19, 2012. Doctors covered the large hole in her skull with a titanium plate. The teen suffered no major brain or nerve damage, and she even kept the piece of her skull that was removed as a souvenir of her fight.
Pakistani hospital workers carry Malala on a stretcher on October 9, 2012, after she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban in Mingora, Pakistan.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
MOHAMMAD REHMANMOHAMMAD REHMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Pakistani hospital workers carry Malala on a stretcher on October 9, 2012, after she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban in Mingora, Pakistan.

She joins some of the most famous leaders in the world in studying PPE at Oxford including former Pakistani President Benazir Bhutto, former US President Bill Clinton, Ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron and leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi.

Successful year

It has been a stellar year for Malala.

In April, she stood alongside United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to accept the role of UN Messenger of Peace.

Malala Yousafzai shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Malala Yousafzai shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
LARS HAGBERG/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Guterres described Yousafzai as a “hero” and “the symbol of one of the most important causes in the world.”

She also received honorary Canadian citizenship from the country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau.