MEGAN MANN
By Harrison Tarr
For the Opelika Observer
With the dawn of a new academic year, the Opelika Observer welcomes Auburn University’s Meghan Mann to its fresh crop of fall student interns.
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Mann joins the Observer as she embarks upon her final semester at Auburn before receiving her bachelors in journalism this December. The journey, which led the emerging journalist to the plains, stems from a family tradition of bleeding orange and blue.
“I wound up at Auburn because my whole family went to Auburn,” Mann said. “I wanted to be the odd ball out and go somewhere else so I looked at Ole Miss and USA but when I did the tour at Auburn it was home. I couldn’t imagine myself somewhere else.”
Although attending Auburn was a multigenerational tradition at home, Mann’s choice to pursue a career in journalism strayed from the paths of those before her.
“I am the first journalist in my family but my sister graduated in PR,” Mann said. “Not the first liberal arts major.”
Mann noted that being the lone professional in journalism has never presented itself as an issue at home.
“I’m the only writer in my family, so that’s pretty interesting,” Mann said. “But they all think that’s actually really cool and they support me in that.”
Between the support received at home for her passions and her decision to attend Auburn University, Mann found herself excelling within the school of journalism.
“Once I got into my journalism classes at Auburn, the difference in how I did in those and how much I love those compared to all the classes you have to take in your first year was incredible,” she said. “It didn’t even feel like work.”
Despite her confidence in the journalism field developing during her undergraduate courses, the love for writing began long before Mann’s arrival on the plains.
“I first started writing my freshman year of high school and then I got really into it around my senior year,” Mann said. “I went through a really difficult time and had a lot of trauma and grief. That was when I really dove into writing and journalism.”
Outside of the newsroom, Mann continues to express herself in another written outlet: poetry.
“I originally started doing poetry to let out my grief and anger from stuff that I’ve been through,” Mann said. “Then it started being something I did every day. I’ll be in the grocery store or the car or somewhere and something will spark me and I’ll start writing.”
The senior notes that her love for the art has strengthened her professional skills.
“I think that’s helped me a lot in feature writing because my creative writing has expanded a lot,” Mann said. “I’m really good at describing things like that.”
After graduating from Auburn, Mann hopes to release a book containing roughly 100 pieces of poetry titled “What’s Left Unsaid.”