What Freedom Means to Me
by Tessa Link
Freedom is to me is waking up every morning and thanking God that it is safe to go to school or go anywhere you please. Many people have to worry about getting to school safely. We have the privilege to go to school, but there are girls in Pakistan or any other country who do not have the same privilege that we do.
Freedom doesn’t mean hiding in a basement or in attic until a bell rings because someone is trying to kill you because of your religion. I am thankful to wake up every morning and know that it will be safe going to school or freely walking around town whenever I want. In other countries people do not have the same freedom that we do, freedom of speech, religion, and freedom of press.
“Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” – Corrie ten Boom, holocaust survivor.
I believe that this is true because if you spend so much time worrying about tomorrow it changes today, probably for the worst.
There are many countries that do not let girls got to school and learn. Malala Yousafzai is one of those girls. She went, with other girls, she got an education. But on October 9, 2012 she was walking home with her friends when a gunman asked for her by name. She was shot by a single bullet that went through her head, neck, and shoulder. Two of her friends were also injured. Malala was not let out of the hospital until January of 2013 because the doctors did not think she would survive the attack. She did. In weeks after the attack, over 2 million people signed a right to education act. Before the attack Malala and her father received death threats but continued to speak out for right of education so that girls could have the right to learn. Malala is still doing this to this day.
This is what freedom means to me. Not being scared to walk out of your door or hide in a basement or a dusty old attic. Freedom means waking up every morning thanking God that you are safe to go where you please. Freedom also means that we all have the freedom to learn and teach what we know. Thanks to Corrie ten Boom and Malala Yousafzai I am very grateful.