Mark Zupan, the author of this year's Freshman Common Reader, is visiting today to talk to students about not only his book, but about his life experiences.
Zupan is talking to students tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Emens Auditorium in connection to his novel, "Gimp: The Story Behind the Star of Murderball". Freshmen were required to read Zupan's novel over the summer to be able to discuss the novel the weekend after moving in.
In "Gimp", Zupan tells his story about how a drunken accident changed his life. During a night of alcohol induced partying, Zupan climbed into the back of his best friend's truck and fell asleep. His friend drove drunk with him sleeping in the back. The driver swerved off of the road, and Zupan was ejected out of the bed of the truck. As a result of the accident, Zupan is now a quadriplegic, meaning he has little to no functionality in all four of his limbs.
When the accident happened, Zupan was a freshmen at Florida Atlantic University and on his way to the first string of the soccer team. Throughout the book, Zupan does not only talk about his recovery and his past. He focuses on how the accident changed him as a person.
After his accident, Zupan overcame struggles he never expected he would have to face in life. He found relief through murderball, a sport also known as quadriplegic rugby. Zupan's team won bronze for murderball at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, and later won gold at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
Melinda Messineo, director of Freshmen Connections, said Zupan is also here to talk about another issue that is important for not only students, but people in general to know.
"He is not only here to talk about and familiarize students with his book," Messineo said. "He is here to break down stereotypes about spinal cord injuries."
Between 2000 and 2500 students are expected to attend the free public discussion.
Freshman news journalism major. Hannah Carlock, said she thinks his talk will impact other students and herself even more than the book did.
"From reading his book, I feel like I understand his point of view," Carlock said. "By having him talk to us, I think I'll really be able to relate."
While the event is targetted to freshmen, all students are welcome.
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