SeeHer Story Celebrates Malala Yousafzai, an Icon of Female Education, in Episode 3

At only 22 years old, Malala Yousafzai has made a name for herself as one of the most influential champions of female education in the world.

From a young age, her lifelong dedication to empowering women quickly gained global attention, propelling her to become a best-selling author and the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

To honor the remarkable activist, SeeHer Story has chosen to look back at her extraordinary life in this week’s episode.

Katie Couric Media and PEOPLE partnered to create the second season of SeeHer Story, a weekly digital video series created to celebrate various female trailblazers from the past 100 years to today.

Veronique de Viguerie/Getty

Born in Mingora, Pakistan, in 1997, Yousafzai discovered her love for learning at a young age.

She had her heart set on becoming a doctor, but things quickly changed in 2008 when the Taliban commanded power and shared different perspectives on girls going to school.

"When the Taliban came, they started talking about the girl’s education, that girls are not allowed to go to school, and they are not allowed to get education," Yousafzai recalled in an early clip.

RELATED: SeeHer Story Remembers Fannie Lou Hamer, Black Voting Rights Activist, in Episode 2

Yousafzai began to publicly advocate for girls' education, but was eventually barred from school for her radical views.

After spending years championing girls' education in her native Pakistan, she quickly gained international attention — which the Taliban was not pleased with.

"My people need me, and I shall raise my voice because if I didn’t raise my voice now, so when will I raise my voice?” she explained in the video.

Ida Mae Astute/Walt Disney Television via Getty

On Oct. 9, 2012, Taliban gunmen opened fire on her school bus, striking Yousafzai in the head.

She was airlifted from Pakistan to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, where she made a miraculous recovery.

Despite the injury, Yousafzai never stopped fighting for women to have the right to an education.

Nigel Waldron/Getty

Just one year after her attack, Yousafzai wrote I Am Malala, a best-selling novel, and created the Malala Fund to continue her goals as an activist for female education.

RELATED: Malala Yousafzai Graduates Oxford University, Says She's Ready for 'Netflix, Reading and Sleep'

Two years later, at age 17, she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

“This is where I will begin, but it is not where I will stop. I will continue this fight until I see every child, every child in school," she said in her acceptance speech.

In June 2020, Yousafzai completed her studies at Oxford University, graduating with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics.

But this isn't Yousafzai's only degree: she received an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2013.

While Yousafzai hasn't yet shared what she plans on doing next, she is bound to continue helping women around the world.

As she said in her Nobel Prize speech: “We have already taken many steps. Now it is time to take a leap.”

SeeHer Story will be a regular feature in PEOPLE’s print edition, the weekday morning newsletter Wake-Up Call with Katie Couric and on PeopleTV’s entertainment show, PEOPLE Now. Unilever is sponsoring the second season of the year-long series.

"SeeHer Story celebrates the important contributions of bold women from the past 100 years who have changed our country forever,” said Couric in a statement. “We hope recognizing them and telling their stories will not only give them their due but will also inspire the next generation of leaders.”

She added, “Together with Meredith and PEOPLE, I’m so excited to bring back a second season of stories of women whose names you may know — and put those whose achievements are not as well-known — front and center so we can celebrate them as well.”