Coming to Cape Coral High School as a skinny and quiet freshman, Jordan Manning lacked the confidence he needed in his writing. Now, as he prepares to leave the Nest to fulfill his dreams at Florida Gulf Coast University in sports journalism, it is certain that both his skills and his self-assurance have grown exponentially.
Before arriving at Cape High, Manning was heavily unsure of his writing skills. “I decided to choose journalism [as an elective] as a way of helping me learn how to write better.”
Despite Manning’s lack of confidence in his writing, journalism teacher and newspaper advisor Aaron Smoly quickly noticed his untapped potential. “It wasn’t until I realized that he was an excellent writer and someone whose name I would need to remember.”
“A lot of students think that they’re poor writers when they come in here [journalism class], and in some cases, maybe, when it comes to essay [writing], and some of the time they are. But [journalism] is technical writing skills, and it’s obvious from the very get-go that Jordan was very analytically minded and was able to get down to a technical writing standpoint much faster than most of his peers.” Smoly said in response to Manning’s early lack of confidence.
Manning recalls a certain piece of writing that got him ‘on the radar’; an article he wrote back in freshman year; a profile on a friend he had with cystic fibrosis, a profile that wound up winning him an award. This was a turning point in which he was able to garner more confidence in his writing skills and learn to hone those skills, “From there, I kind of gained interest in [writing] because I realized I was pretty good at it.”
His path towards the position of sports editor wasn’t one simply carved for him. At the time, Manning wasn’t all that interested in sports besides hockey, let alone sports writing — so his eyes weren’t set on that specific goal. “I learned a lot from the former sports editor, Morgan Larkins. When I got in bed with sports writing, I learned a lot more about different sports like football, baseball, and that piqued my interest even further.”
There were various challenges that Manning had to overcome on his way to becoming the sports editor and an accomplished student journalist. “Prior to joining the newspaper, I had a speech impediment, so I stuttered a bunch, and I had a lisp. So through interviewing people, I kind of gained my confidence in speaking. Even outside the newspaper, I’ve gotten better at talking to people. The biggest skill I’ve learned [in the newspaper] is public speaking.”
With his internal challenges, Manning also felt he had some external challenges. In his freshman journalism class, he had other talented writers with him: AJ Cudnik and Sophia Dupeyron — AJ came to be the Editor-in-Chief and Sophia to be News Editor; all three of whom are leaving. “I had some pretty good competition in there, like AJ, Sophia, and I didn’t really expect to get this high [to sports editor] position. Confidence was a big thing, and I just became better at it over time,” said Manning.
Manning’s spike of interest was a result of being thrown into sports writing as a young journalist which allowed for him to delve into even more sports than those he was really into. He won multiple awards for his sports articles during that year which increased both his confidence and writing skills within sports.
Even though Manning wasn’t always looking towards being the sports editor, he was clearly made for it. “As a leader, he is someone who’s capable of explaining the details of writing to other people and bringing them along on the process,” said Smoly. “He has really grown and matured over the last four years. His writing was great to begin with, and it’s just become more refined as he’s gotten experience.”
The experience Manning has gained that Smoly mentions, as well as connections which are important in the journalism field, have helped him get his foot in the door for sports writing and writing for the National Hockey League (NHL).
When it comes to writing, those writers must have not just talent, but also the passion and the topics they write about. “Jordan is really passionate about certain things, and he really demonstrates it. Some clear examples are his love for sports and music,” said Sophia Dupeyron, a close friend of Manning and a graduating newspaper member.
Manning may seem like a quiet student at first, but if you get into a discussion with him about something he loves, then he will be the most excited person you will ever meet. “He can be reserved at times, but when he’s really passionate about something, he’s more than willing to talk about it,” Dupeyron said.
Larkins said, “I remember meeting him for the first time, and he was more of a reserved person at first. After some time, I learned that he’s a die-hard hockey fan. So my initial impression of him kind of reminded me of myself. A quiet kid who really loved sports.”
Out of all the stories he’s written, Manning points to one specific piece he worked on as sports editor. “I really enjoyed my double truck where I interviewed Coach Isaac Harvin and Coach Tyler Murphy. It was a really fun article because I was able to interview two NFL stars and Super Bowl winners.”
His story was a great stepping stone for Manning to get experience in writing articles on professional sports games, as he was able to interview two coaches who came from the NFL and the Super Bowl.
Besides sports writing, Manning is also extremely interested in other topics, like profiles. “Two pieces I’d choose would probably be my first award-winning article, the cystic fibrosis [article], and the one about Will Sherman, who passed away [our] sophomore year.” So even as sports editor, the articles that Manning deems the most important to him are the two about his friends, whom he felt stories should be told.
As he prepares to graduate, Manning will leave behind a legacy and a mark on the sports editor position, not just on strong writing, but of mentorship and quiet leadership. “Sports editors and people who can write sports are hard to come by. Every couple of years, I get a good one, and they’re always incredibly hard to replace, and it takes a long time to do it. Then you have to retrain them from scratch because I usually have a year or two between good ones. Filling that position is going to be difficult, but I’m also going to miss having someone to talk about hockey with,” remarked Smoly.
After he leaves FGCU, Manning has plans to leave Florida. “I plan on getting out of Florida. I was thinking about checking out some big cities like Nashville. I always wanted to live there.” Ultimately, Manning has big dreams that he is determined to accomplish and is taking big steps to get out of the quiet shell he will leave behind.
