COLUMN: Brown an asset to paper, Barrow community

That’s why it has been nice to see her recognized for her work in recent days. First, it was two awards from the Georgia Sports Writers Association and then five more, including two coveted first-place plaques, from the Georgia Press Association.

Awards are not the end-all in this or any profession. Still, I must admit I was happy, thrilled even, for her and to see her recognized. From what we’ve been able to learn, Jessica, a 17-year-old rising senior at Winder-Barrow High School, is the youngest person to ever win an award from the GPA. What more really needs to be said than that?

I still remember the first time Jessica met Journal publisher Mike Buffington and myself. I had been encouraging (pushing perhaps?) the boss to hire someone to help with our photography work. While I’m from the writing side of things, I know all too well the importance of photography to a newspaper. It’s especially true for the sports section, but for all areas as well.

Jessica, who at the time was just 15, arrived at our newly purchased Barrow Journal office in Winder, with her father (she wasn’t even eligible to drive on her own) and talked with us about this new product which would soon debut.

When our speech was over, I remember her dad looking at her and saying, “Is this something you would like to do?” Naturally somewhat shy, she simply nodded her head in an affirmative manner and our photography worries were over.

While, in theory, Jessica is gaining great experience by working at such a young age, the truth is we also benefit greatly from her skills. She has impressed me from day one as being professional, dedicated and, of course, a master with her camera. While we use numerous pictures she takes each week, we could never possibly use them all.

On the beat, she’s taken photos in the rain. She’s taken photos when she was sick and probably should have been at home resting. She’s taken photos when it was freezing outside — literally— and I can count on one hand the number of times she hasn’t been able to cover something for us despite being a full-time student taking advanced placement classes. When her classmates are sleeping on Saturday morning, she is often at some event taking pictures for us.

We often hear the negative about today’s youth and how there is no hope for the future. Well, it’s my pleasure to share a little about our young phenom. Someone who is a credit to her family, her school, her community and her newspaper.

I look forward to our working partnership continuing for a long time. We have someone rare in Miss Brown. Someone who would make any parent proud and someone who makes this ever-aging and tiring newspaper man remain young, even if only at heart. It all began by chance, but has worked out beyond anyone’s expectations.

Yes, sometimes you do get lucky.

Chris Bridges is the sports editor of the Barrow Journal. Send comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.