Looking beyond Tahrir: Lara El Gibaly, an Egyptian college student, reflects on last winter's revolution and her hopes for her nation's future.

• Author: Gibaly, Lara El
• Position: VOICES - Egyptian revolution

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I'd strolled through Tahrir Square hundreds of times to get to school in downtown Cairo, Egypt's capital. But on the morning of Jan. 25, 2011, I found myself being jostled along through the square by a chanting crowd of thousands. At the time, I couldn't have imagined that we were making history, that thousands of Egyptians would soon grow into millions and would topple the 30-year dictatorial regime of President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of determined protests.

We were following the lead of Tunisia, where the government had fallen two weeks earlier after a month of protests. The spark for their revolution-which spurred all the other protests across the Arab world-was a 26-year-old fruit vendor who set himself on fire after Tunisian police unjustly confiscated his stand.

Corruption and oppression had been facts of life for most Egyptians as well. But two events pushed us to the boiling point.

First, in June 2010, a 28-year-old man named Khaled Said was brutally killed by police, probably for his "crime" of posting a video on YouTube of police using illegal drugs.

Second, parliamentary elections last November were so blatantly rigged that the ruling National Democratic Party "won" more than 80 percent of the seats. Police violently dispersed the protests that followed.

But in January, as Egyptians-rich and poor, and of all political stripes-gathered peacefully in Tahrir Square, no amount of tear gas or brutality could make us leave. Major news outlets in the West called us "pro-democracy" protesters, but I think "bread, freedom, social justice"-the cry of millions throughout the revolution-occupied the thoughts of most Egyptians who had taken to the streets.

Now that Mubarak is gone, we must decide what kind of government will work best for Egyptians. Europe-where democracy and social...