( CNN ) You have to love Malala . The 17-year-old Pakistani advocate for girls ' education who , on Friday , became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize told `` The Daily Show 's '' Jon Stewart last year what she would do if she were confronted again by a member of the Taliban . `` I 'll tell him how important education is and that I even want education for your children as well , '' she said . `` I 'll tell him , 'That 's what I want to tell you ; now do what you want . ' `` This from a girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban . For exercising her right to go to school . Malala Yousafzai was only 14 years old at the time -- and just 11 when she started blogging anonymously for the BBC about the struggles of life in Pakistan 's Swat Valley . Stewart 's response was priceless as well : `` I know your father is backstage and he 's very proud of you , but would he be mad if I adopted you ? '' It 's not just him . The world has adopted Malala . Malala 's journey from near death to the Nobel Peace Prize . She reminds us of the transformative power of education , especially for the 31 million primary-school-age girls , according to UNICEF , who are n't in school worldwide . And , as important , she is a beacon of hope -- a reminder that the human spirit holds in it immense possibility , warmth , humility and forgiveness . U.S. President Barack Obama used to fill that role , back when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 . Now , as bombs fall over Syria and Iraq , in an attempt to destroy a terrorist group that has beheaded Americans , it 's hard to continue to see him that way these days . Malala is the world 's new symbol of hope . Her crusade for education rights only seems to be getting stronger as the years pass . And in the world of ISIS and Boko Haram , the Nigerian group that kidnaps young girls and attacks their schools , she 's needed now more than ever . That she shares the prize with Kailash Satyarthi , an Indian children 's rights activist , makes this moment all the more significant . `` The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim , an Indian and a Pakistani , to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism , '' the committee said in a statement . The Nobel Committee praised Satyarthi as carrying on Gandhi 's tradition of nonviolent resistance . And it called Malala 's struggle `` heroic . '' It 's not hard to see why . `` Dear friends , on the 9th of October 2012 , the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead . They shot my friends , too , '' Malala said at the United Nations in July 2013 . `` They thought that the bullets would silence us . But they failed . `` And then , out of that silence came , thousands of voices . The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions , but nothing changed in my life except this : Weakness , fear and hopelessness died . Strength , power and courage was born . '' It 's telling that , according to ABC News , Malala was planning to be in school Friday . That 's true determination . It 's the kind that hopefully will give more girls around the world the right to do the same .
Malala Yousafzai has become the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner . She was shot in the head by the Taliban on her way home from school . John Sutter says Malala is not only an education activist ; she 's a symbol of hope .