On March 1, Oswego State gave a warm welcome to the I Am Oz guest speaker Shiza Shahid, the well-renowned co-founder of the Malala Fund.

The Malala Fund was started after the tragic shooting of Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban in 2012 when she started advocating for other young girls to receive an equal education. After giving a speech to the United Nations and publishing a book called “I am Malala,” Yousafzai became the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize, at 16 years old.

Shahid started the Malala Fund because she said she felt she could help the young girls in in her home country of Pakistan escape the danger of the Taliban attacking all-girl schools, receive an education and have a safe haven.

Shahid held a public forum before her speech for students, discussing their majors and future aspirations, as well as clubs and organizations on campus. Some of the students expressed how they are just starting or want to start up clubs on campus, and they asked for advice on how to get the word out to more young women and men about getting involved in the community.

They went into depth, breaking down barriers of gender inequality in society and holding people accountable for their actions. Lastly, a student brought up the recent issue of the gender inequality that is currently transpiring at Oswego State, the underfunding for female sports compared to male sports. Shahid gave advice to all of them and shared her contact information in case anyone has any questions for her in the future.   

Shahid told the audience her story, being born into a Pakistani family and being raised in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. She said she was born into a modest family and received a good education, which is part of what drove her to launch the Malala Fund. After receiving her degree from Stanford University, she had to make a life-changing decision whether to move on with her career choice or go back home to continue helping other girls have their voices heard. Shahid made the choice to go back to Pakistan, to the Swat Valley region where the Taliban was attacking young girls. From the Swat Valley, the young girls were transported to Islamabad for shelter and to receive education and life skills.

Shahid provided advice to the audience, especially to students as they move up the social ladder. She introduced the Japanese philosophy “Ikigai,” meaning “reason for being.” In this philosophy, there are four areas one can achieve happiness: passion, mission, profession and vocation.

Each of these words include certain notions, as each of them go hand in hand. For example, the transition from passion to profession would be “something in which you are good at.” Transitioning from profession to vocation would be “something in which you are paid for.”

The third transition includes the words vocation and mission, which is something “in which the world needs.” Finally, the last transition comprises of the words mission and passion, which is “something in which one loves to do and are doing it for a certain purpose.”