As production night drags into the evening, writers hurry to finish their articles as deadlines approach. Editors upload drafts, which make their way onto the pages of the Winged Post newspaper. In the midst of this writing rush, several grammatical and formatting errors sneak their way into articles unnoticed. But seated quietly in the corner is senior Jeremy Peng, skimming through each text, his sharp eye catching every mistake before they go to print. 

Jeremy first embarked on his journey in Harker’s journalism program in his sophomore year Introduction to Journalism class to pursue writing. Despite initially struggling to make connections with his classmates, who were mostly in the grade below him, Jeremy eventually embraced the relationships he formed during his sophomore year. He quickly felt a sense of belonging in the journalism community, which Jeremy cherished as he navigated life in the United States apart from his parents. 

“I’m living here without my parents, who are back in Asia,” Jeremy said. “So during high school, I’ve been living with homestay families and living from place to place with different families. Through these four years, the school community has been the one really stable place in my life that I can always come back to every year. “It’s still the same people in my grade, the same people in the journalism community. In that sense, the Harker community and the journalism community have stabilized my place, and I’m grateful for that.”

When Jeremy joined as a reporter, he initially was unsure about what he wanted to pursue in particular within journalism. However, his path led him to the less visible but crucial world of copy editing, a niche that aligned with his strengths. 

“When I got the copy editing role, I felt that was something I always wanted to explore,” Jeremy said. “I didn’t take any effort to actually do that at first, and it was later on when I realized that there was some potential for copy editing to be expanded as a role in the publication. I tried to put more effort into that. That’s when I found my place in the publication.”

Learning from the Winged Post strategic team and other assistants, Jeremy honed his editing skills while gaining a greater overall appreciation for the collaborative spirit of journalism.

“Working with them made me realize how much of a community journalism is,” Jeremy said. I learned to embrace a niche. Copy editing is a pretty narrow field, and it’s a very niche thing to do in journalism. Being able to make my own value out of that is a skill I learned.” 

Jeremy’s commitment to his craft didn’t go unnoticed. Co-copy editor senior Saahil Herrero reflects on how Jeremy took the initiative early in the school year to leave his mark on the copy editing side of Harker Journalism.

“We’ve always mentioned creating a document of the AP style hardware information to keep it consistent across the publications,” Saahil said. “It never was created. No one had done anything about it specifically, but Jeremy, near the beginning of the school year, took the initiative and created that document. He spent a lot of time curating it for the most essential details.”

Beyond his work behind the scenes, Jeremy has fond memories of covering events for journalism. Jeremy particularly recollects a moment that solidified what journalism signifies to him when filming the 2023 Homecoming game with a GoPro. 

“It was a very unique experience filming, being able to stand in the front line and delivering the live work,” Jeremy said. “Recording the live coverage was very symbolic of what journalism is for me because it’s bringing this valuable information to your audience. That whole night was very memorable and eye-opening, especially because it was with so many other experienced editors and reporters.”

Jeremy’s impact reaches far beyond journalism. Close friend Aarush Vailaya, who met Jeremy in their English class in junior year, recalls the value Jeremy brought to group discussions. He notes that Jeremy has been able to make comments that represent quality over quantity, which help improve others around him.  

“Jeremy was a bit quiet in class initially, but he had really insightful ideas,” Aarush said. “He was the type of person who was always thinking about something and was hard working. Whenever he spoke up in English class, the stuff he said was really insightful. It helped me write essays.”

English department chair Dr. Pauline Paskali, who taught Jeremy in his junior year Honors English 3 class, reflects on how Jeremy initially seemed a bit reserved but later blossomed.

“He brings a fresh perspective to the discussion,” Dr. Paskali said. “He makes really unique, interesting, astute connections that one wouldn’t expect, but that makes a lot of sense. And he’s creative. He did this Dickinson project. It was a whole performance. It was like a magician trick act. He has fun with his reading and writing and thinking. He enjoys reading — he’s someone who does read outside of class comes with additional literary insights and sometimes can make connections between even the texts we’re reading and other texts in a fun way.”

While Jeremy encountered hardships while living away from his parents in Hong Kong, he maintained an open mindset and willingness to adapt. He learned this quiet resilience not just from people, but also plants.

“I started gardening at home with succulents,” Jeremy said. “There was a point when I had to move to another family over the summer. I took the succulent with me, and when I got to the new home, it was dying. I thought it wouldn’t thrive very well because of the environment change, but it ended up doing great. And it was way surpassing my expectations. I feel that little hobby showed me that it’s possible to thrive in new and different situations. You can find community in unlikely places or unlikely ways.”

Recalling his experience as a whole, Jeremy hopes to be remembered not for his contributions to copy editing and the journalism program. He hopes that he left the program even stronger than he found it.

“I want to leave behind a better copy editing department,” Jeremy said. “Copy editing has a lot of potential. It can be a very useful thing when it’s done thoroughly. We have good copy editors, but the system sometimes is a little outdated, and I just want to integrate it more into the newsroom and the production cycle. I want copy editing to be the best that it can. Outside of journalism, I’m just happy to be a part of my grade level and sometimes there doesn’t need to be a great legacy.”