**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Meeting via email.**

Author Masachs Boungou will discuss his powerful new memoir, The Power of Personal History: Turning One's Life Tragedies Into Triumph, in this Zoom webinar.

Masachs Boungou will detail his extraordinary journey as a young man -- surviving a civil war, living in the forests in the Republic of the Congo for over a year, becoming a Fulbright Scholar at Brandeis University, and recently attaining a Ph.D. from UMass Lowell. Born to a mother who never finished high college but emphasized to him the power of personal history and education, Dr. Masachs learned English as a young adult by listening to a broadcast, "Voice of America." He will share his unique story about personal tragedies -- how tragedy can live within us and create an inward drive and tenacity -- but also of how higher education and a new language can allow someone to see their life through a different perspective and make positive change and growth. Dr. Masachs delivered the student commencement speech at his UMASS Lowell graduation ceremony this past spring. The research for his dissertation documents the stories of immigrants who experienced civil war and/or genocide and used these experiences to fuel their entrepreneurial drive and business creation in America. Dr. Masachs's story was featured in the Lowell Sun this summer. Learn more about Dr. Masachs HERE.

Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.