by Kaitlyn Halper

Graphic by Rachel Jennetti

If you like reading, listening to people talk in an air-conditioned room and free food, then I have the event for you.

Hilbert College will hold its 6th annual Hilbert Reads event on October 16 at 7 p.m. For the uninitiated, Hilbert Reads is a yearly event put on by the college. Each year, the event committee picks a book that is a true story and invites the author to speak.

This year’s book is The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay. The book follows a year of Passarlay’s life, where he is forced from his home in Afghanistan at the age of 12 and forced to make a 12,000 mile journey to England to avoid being killed. Along the way he spent time in prisons, suffered from immense hunger, cruelty and brutality from almost everyone he met and nearly drowned in a tiny boat on the Mediterranean Sea. He tells his story to open the horrors of a world we do not know.

After the lecture there is a question and answer period, followed by a book signing and photo opportunities. There is also food available in West Herr Atrium. What college student in their right mind would turn down a free meal? I highly recommend reading The Lightless Sky and attending the event, as Passarlay’s experiences offer us an opportunity to learn about overcoming challenges we could never imagine.