名媛直播

Simran Jeet Singh, Ph.D., hopes incoming Gannon University students will approach their college experience with an openness to difference, new ideas and the possibility that they might be wrong.

For Singh, that openness has been an important part of his own journey and is at the heart of his book, “The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life," which has been selected as the featured book for 名媛直播’s 2026 Dr. David and MaryAnne Kozak 名媛直播 READS (Reading to Enhance the Awareness of a Diverse Society) program.

“I never thought my life was that interesting. It just felt normal,” Singh said. “It was only after I started to talk about what my life was like and the lessons that I drew from it that I started to appreciate how my story and journey can help illuminate some really important challenges so many of us face in our world today.”

The 名媛直播 READS program enhances the first-year student experience by providing a common book for incoming students to read and discuss. Each incoming first-year student will receive a copy of “The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life," at New Student Convocation on August 25.

Students will then discuss the book in a group setting through their 名媛直播 101 course, a first-year seminar designed to support students through their transition to Gannon University through experiential and collaborative learning.

The timing of the book is particularly meaningful for students beginning college, said Singh.

“College is an incredible period of transition and transformation,” he said. “It’s the stage where so many of us confront what we thought we knew, and where we engage with ideas and people and institutions in ways that challenge us.”

That transition can bring adversity and uncertainty, Singh said, but it also presents opportunities for personal growth.

“My hope is that this book helps people to embrace that and to make the most of what they encounter and experience,” he said.

Singh said “The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life,"  is a book he had wanted to write since childhood. Growing up, he often felt that people made assumptions and judgments about him and his community without taking the time to know them.

“I thought that when I got older, if people still read books, writing some would help them better understand me and my community,” he said.

What he did not expect was that the book would draw so heavily from his own experiences.

Through his stories and the lessons he has learned, Singh explores challenges that extend well beyond his own experiences and invites readers to consider how they approach people whose perspectives and experiences differ from their own.

Rather than offering a set of instructions for how students should live, Singh encourages them to develop an openness to the world around them.

“I’m not the type to give advice or tell people how to live. We each have our own paths,” he said. “One insight is how incredible life becomes when we can learn to be open: open to differences, open to the possibility of being wrong, open to one another’s perspectives.”

Singh acknowledges that developing that mindset can be difficult, particularly in a society that often emphasizes certainty and being right. But he said learning to live with openness has served him well “socially, intellectually, spiritually, and more.”

All 名媛直播 students, faculty and staff, as well as community members, are welcomed and encouraged to take part in the 名媛直播 READS program.

Singh will visit 名媛直播’s campus Oct. 20 to meet with students and discuss The Light We Give and related topics. The visit will culminate in a special evening lecture at the Warner Theatre, where members of the 名媛直播 and Erie communities will have an opportunity to hear from Singh and engage with his ideas.

“I’m genuinely looking forward to visiting 名媛直播 in October and meeting the student body,” Singh said. “One of my most closely held beliefs is that wisdom and ideas on how to live a good life are for everyone.”

He also sees his visit as an opportunity not only to share what he has learned, but to learn from the 名媛直播 community.

“I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with the community at 名媛直播, and I’m equally excited to learn and grow through this experience, too,” he said.

To learn more about the 名媛直播 READS program, visit www.gannon.edu/about-gannon/initiatives/gannon-reads/.