Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai has shared a deeply personal chapter of her life, revealing that she experimented with drugs during her time at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The revelation comes from her upcoming memoir, Finding My Way, which will be released on October 21, 2025.
According to The Guardian, Malala’s latest book is her most personal work yet, exploring her emotional struggles, healing journey, and the hidden challenges she faced while balancing public expectations and private battles.
In one of the book’s accounts, Malala recalls an evening when she joined a friend, Anisa, and two other students in an old shed where they were taking drugs. Out of curiosity, she decided to try the substance herself using what she described as a “strange glass device.” While she had tried cannabis before without much effect, this time the experience quickly turned distressing.
Malala describes feeling dizzy, anxious, and physically unwell after inhaling the smoke. The episode triggered painful memories from 2012, when she was shot by the Taliban in her hometown of Swat. She writes that the sensation made her feel as if she were reliving the shooting and her subsequent coma, recalling moments of panic, confusion, and fear.
The activist narrates that she struggled to walk back to her hostel, later collapsing and vomiting repeatedly. She stayed awake all night, terrified that she might die if she fell asleep. By morning, she felt slightly better but remained shaken for days.
Through this honest reflection, Malala opens up about the lingering trauma that survivors of violence often endure. Her memoir goes beyond her public advocacy for education and equality, offering readers a raw and human look into her personal journey of pain, recovery, and resilience.
Finding My Way is expected to reveal not only Malala’s strength as a global icon but also her vulnerabilities as a young woman learning to heal and find peace after a life marked by both extraordinary courage and deep emotional scars.
