As someone great once said “ Do something today that will please you in the future.”

My name is Jimarrion Manning, I attend Newton High School and Newton College and Career Academy. I always wanted to do something that could not only better my mindset but also my life.

My family grew up on the rocky roads in Monticello but I had the chance to be born and raised in Covington.

I have experienced many heartfelt lessons. These lessons can either teach you or make you want to give up at times.

I have been through extremely hard times. That is the loss of my maternal grandmother, a house fire, and the loss of my paternal grandmother.

I  say all these things have caused me a lot of suffering, but I learned from it.

When all these things happened it cut deeper than any other cut. I knew it happened for a reason for me to learn how to sacrifice.

With what seems like a small town, I would find myself at my friend’s house everyday just doing what people would say is boring but what we would say is intriguing.

I have many hobbies to do in this small town, such as fishing, playing sports and watching sports. Watching sports will help start a podcast one day.

I have always been involved in extracurricular activities in and outside of school. Recently I was accepted into the National Honor Society.

I have joined the brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi or Kappa League in a mentoring program for my seventh year. I’ve met many people that have shaped me along the way, some who I won’t forget.

Just this year I was nominated for something called JRCREDC, an economic development organization council out of Rockdale County.

What made me so invested in this internship was the people, the place, the work, and myself wanting to put in the effort. I wanted to be a more involved citizen in my community and my county just to see what’s happening under and in the shadows.

Also what made me so invested in this opportunity is learning what it takes to keep Newton County safe, like how a juvenile probation officer would keep a problem child from continuing going down. Or how a mother steals a child from south Salem awards ceremony who ends up getting caught the same day and he was returned to his father like people say “Don’t nothing happened in Newton County.”

What I hope to gain from this internship is more insight on journalism, and how to create a podcast. Journalism isn’t just basic writing, it’s about telling stories about life, love, even yourself.

I want to be more confident in myself when I go out in the community to meet new people.

Sometimes people see me as an introvert, I see myself as someone who wants to escape his shell and meet new people.

As the great H. Jackson Brown once said, “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

Jimarrion Manning is a correspondent and summer intern at The Covington News. He can be reached via news@covnews.com.