Talk about squad goals.
Two world-famous young women activists, Greta Thunberg, 17, and Malala Yousafzai, 22, met one another recently when Thunberg visited Oxford University in England ahead of a planned school strike nearby.
[Related: How Greta Thunberg Is Inspiring an Entire Generation of Young Women]
According to reports, the climate change fighter met up with the human rights defender, who is presently enrolled at Oxford, on Tuesday. And both of them were equally excited about this meeting of minds.
“She’s the only friend I’d skip school for,” Yousafzai tweeted, while sharing an image of the two of them together on a bench — an allusion to the school strikes Thunberg is known best for. Thunberg, meanwhile, wrote, “So … today I met my role model. What else can I say?”
[Related: Meet the 25-Year-Old Powerhouse Behind Malala Fund]
Though they fight for two different causes, both of them are fierce champions of those missions — despite starting those campaigns before they were even old enough to vote or drive. And both came to prominence at relatively young ages.
In 2012, a then-teenage Yousafzai — an activist for female education from childhood — was shot on her way home from her Pakistani school by a Taliban gunman. She was hit in the head by the bullet, but survived, and her dramatic story and inspiring action paved the way to international recognition. Meanwhile, in 2018, Thunberg became known worldwide after choosing to miss school to sit outside of Swedish parliament in demand of action on climate change. Across the globe, other children took note, and began doing the same.
Both also turned their personal struggles and deeply held values into internationally respected campaigns to make the world better. Our fingers are crossed for many more meetings — and perhaps even some shared plans of action — from these two inspiring young women.
[Related: Greta Thunberg’s Campaign Against Climate Change Earns Her a Top Honor]