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<\/a>De\u2019Arbreya Lee<\/strong> Brandon Manning, a 2007 Jackson State University graduate took over a class of graduate and undergraduate students on March 24 in the College of Liberal Arts Building.<\/p>\n Manning is currently a professor at Ohio State University where he teaches entry and second level composition courses and is currently enrolled in the university\u2019s Ph.D. program.<\/p>\n During the noon session, Manning was a guest speaker to Professor Wanda Morgan\u2019s English 112 freshman honors students where he discussed the importance of knowing your focus in your career and having a love for reading and writing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I want to tell you is that once you do decide what your major is going to be, you have to go in all the way. You have to,\u201d said Manning. \u201cThere\u2019s a level of dedication and work that you all have to come to get used to and hopefully that you all are getting acclimated to through the honors program and that you will be able to then continue once you realize what your destination is,\u201d said Manning.<\/p>\n Manning took over the lesson for Morgan\u2019s students as he analyzed and discussed Alice Walker\u2019s short story \u201cEveryday Use.\u201d \u201cI liked how he was comfortable with us like he has taught our class for awhile,\u201d said Young. \u201cHe offered some interesting insights and a different perspective than what I thought of about the story.\u201d<\/p>\n Young also explained that Manning\u2019s success also gives her inspiration.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very encouraging how he is a graduate of Jackson State and he\u2019s continuing his education, about to get his Ph.D. and he seems so young. It really showed the education that he received at Jackson State,\u201d said Young.<\/p>\n Madison Pennaman, a sophomore Spanish major from Jackson, Miss., said that she also appreciated Manning\u2019s presence and the motivation that he stirred in the classroom.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was really pulling out the books. Every time I come to this class, I learn more and more,\u201d said Pennaman.<\/p>\n Morgan, a former professor of Manning, explained why she wanted her class to hear from him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe challenged me sometimes with ideas and that\u2019s what I thrive on; students coming to the classroom with questions that cause me to revisit the text,\u201d said Morgan.<\/p>\n Manning discussed graduate school and hard work to senior and junior students.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you really want to go to grad school, you have to have an undying, unconditional love for reading and writing. It [your major] definitely needs to be one that you\u2019re willing to wrestle with,\u201d said Manning.<\/p>\n JSU English Department Chair and Associate Professor Jean Chamberlain expressed her thoughts about Manning\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what impressed me most was that I could see so much growth in [Manning] in such a short amount of time,\u201d said Chamberlain.<\/p>\n Chamberlain also said that she feels that the exposure of Ohio State University has greatly shaped the student that was once an undergraduate at JSU.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that he is producing original ideas as in what he was doing with \u201cEveryday Use,\u201d said Chamberlain. \u201cHe was always a brilliant student, but now he thinks like a scholar in the field of African American Lit.\u201d<\/p>\n Manning came to JSU as a sophomore English major, became a McNair Scholar, and served as a staff writer on The Blue & White Flash student newspaper for three years.<\/p>\n After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in English at JSU, Manning taught English I at Wingfield High School for a year and went on to study at Ohio State University where he received his Master of Arts degree in 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" De\u2019Arbreya Lee Staff Writer Brandon Manning, a 2007 Jackson State University graduate took over a class of graduate and undergraduate students on March 24 in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nJanez Young, a freshman English major from Jackson, Miss., said that she was very impressed with Mannings\u2019 teaching and his accomplishments.<\/p>\n