On Friday, October 17, national icon Florence Ozor made Aspen High School a stop on her #BringBackOurGirls campaign, to raise awareness for the 276 Nigerian schoolgirls that were kidnapped. Ozor created the #BringBackOurGirls campaign out of frustration with the lack of response from the Nigerian government after the girls were abducted. The purpose of #BringBackOurGirls is to spread awareness about the missing girls through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. The hashtag spread like wildfire when students, celebrities, and political figures from around the world heard about this atrocity and refused to stay silent. On April 14, 2014, just over six months ago, 276 schoolgirls were snatched by militants from Boko Haram, a militant Islamist movement based in northeast Nigeria, in the village of Chibok. This event occurred the night before the schoolgirls were scheduled to take their final high school test allowing them to move on to graduate. Extreme anger and frustration has developed in Nigeria and all around the world because of this incident. In just months, Ozor has transformed from a normal Nigerian woman, working for an oil and gas company, into a nationally known advocate for change. I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Ozor after she spoke to a group of interested AHS students. “I don’t see myself as a celebrity,” Ozor laughed. “I do what I do because I simply cannot keep quiet. I don’t see the cameras. What is important is if we achieve our goal, and our goal becomes achieved when our girls are back home safe.” At AHS, Ozor had three key things that she wanted students to take away from her speech. One: be aware that such an atrocity has been committed. Two: Take advantage of the opportunities that you have. Three: Know that you can inspire and create change at any age. Ozor is an inspirational woman who is using her time in the spotlight wisely and making change; she has become a symbol for awareness of the abducted girls around the world because of her unique philosophy. She used this philosophy when explaining her reaction to working alongside of some of the 57 girls who escaped from Boko Haram’s grasp. “There is no damage that love cannot heal,” Ozor said with a smile. “You speak to them, and you just see girls that are fighting to remain themselves in spite of what they’ve gone through. They’re not going to let the terrorists win, so they stay brave and courageous girls that are ready to take on the world.” Ozor wanted to make it clear that she didn’t put all of the blame on Boko Haram. While they are an evil terrorist group that has done a terrible thing, this atrocity is just one of many issues Ozor sees in her country. “I am angry and frustrated with the government in my country and I don’t think my anger will go away for a while until things have seriously changed,” Ozor said. “The abduction of the girls is just a symptom of a more fundamental problem and if we don’t talk about these problems, we will have more issues such as the abduction.” Even after the girls are found, Ozor’s life will forever be impacted by the love she gave and received during her time advocating for the 276 Nigerian girls. “Going forward, I can never keep quiet over anything that is wrong anywhere in the world. This experience was life changing for me. We are all in this world to do something and this was mine. I think every girl child everywhere in the world should have the opportunity to have as much education as they want. Nobody has the right to take that away from them,” Ozor said. Not only is Ozor an incredible advocate for change, she is also a woman who enjoys empowering others. She wants every person to have a vision and complete that vision because she knows every single person has the potential to be great. “When you craft a vision for yourself, you have to start to work towards it,” Ozor said. “I saw visiting Aspen High School as an opportunity to inspire young men and women that there is more to your life, and that the world needs you. In telling the story of the girls, I also want people to know that your life can actually be something, it just depends on what you want from it.”