Over this summer vacation, I read the memoir I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and was absolutely enthralled by her story and her drive. As I read, I brought up Malala in conversation with a woman cutting my hair and realized how much reading and being a part of Hingham High School has done for me.

While we talked, the woman was completely unaware of Malala, she claimed to never have even heard her name, and that astonishes me; how can someone go through their life without ever hearing about Malala and her story? So from there, I reflected on how I first heard of her.

I talk to my parents and friends about the news and about the daily happenings, so they are often times my initial source of information, but from there I explore the topics that interest me. What interested me about Malala was how young she was, seemingly fulfilling life goals whilst still being in her teens. I aspired to hold the same drive as she, even if not in the same way. Talking to the hairdresser who hadn’t ever heard of this inspirational person of my generation made me realize how lucky we are to be so well informed and to be aware of what is happening around us.

At Hingham High School, the students and teachers are constantly trying to learn new things and share them with each other, and if I didn’t have this outlet, my life would drastically change. As we begin this school year I hope that we all think about how much we should value our education and think about being more globally aware, as I don’t want to be in my 30’s and not know of a person that has the potential to be in history books, to make real change; I hope that we all remain aware of the world around us and take in everything we can here at Hingham High and carry that awareness on for the rest of our lives.