An Ode to Joonyoung
By KEVIN THANT, MELIA THIBAULT, and JADE YOO
You probably see our dear Managing Editor Joonyoung Heo lurking beneath the stairs at department meeting and wonder what he’s working on. Other than correcting people’s grammar, trying to get people to judge Debate and potentially planning world domination, he secretly has quite a bit going on.
He’s the beloved cohead of Daniel Webster Debate Society and also Managing Editor of The Exonian (those are the only clubs of his that actually matter). However, if you want to get technical, he is also the cohead of History club and Ethics Forum. And Legal Society. You often see him sitting at the front of the debate club making funny snide comments like “sarky git” (who really knows what that means) or telling people to “limit your colloquialisms.”
Over the summer, he displayed his show of wealth and power by having Zoom Premium. He never missed a chance to apply a filter, or arrange the video grids, or to just ask, “Did you know I have Zoom Premium?” In case you were wondering, his favorite filter is the flower crown.
On the rare occasion you may talk to him, you will find that Joonyoung has quite niche interests. These include Abraham Lincoln, bullying lowers at Grill, or giving judgemental looks from across the hallway (although he denies it). If you talk to him about any of these topics, you will find that he can talk for hours.
Once, at Grill, Joonyoung was spotted associating with a huge crowd of lowers as the only senior. As they surrounded him in a cult-like manner, asking him questions, for advice and jokes, he stood in the center, emulating a holy aura around him. However, despite this it seems as if he was being worshipped by these lowers, he had was solemnly being compared to having a similar attitude and appearance as the beloved Korean TV show character Pororo the Penguin.
While he may have a menacing and scary aura about him, he truly is a softie at heart. While correcting people’s grammar or a history fact, he often follows up his rant with a loud chuckle. He gets yelled at by Colin Jung, who is an older and scarier version of him, and seemingly his mentor. If you ever hear him and Colin talk, you may notice him being called the name Bobby. He seems to like this nickname, radiating Bob the Builder energy everytime anybody calls him that. Occasionally, a person comes along who thinks that Joonyoung and Bobby are separate people.
Kevin Thant, a lower with a significantly big back and a gorilla-like aura, aspires to be Joonyoung Heo. When he is not ergmaxxing, he tends to copy Joonyoung’s voice and corrects everyone’s grammar, but he can never match the serious yet goofy voice of the one and only Joonyoung. For now, Joonyoung simply helps Kevin pick his 331 topic and occasionally calls him names.
You may also come across debate preps calling him a “glorious king” and “their father figure,” in an endearing sense. Among lowers, especially those in debate, he is seen as a mentor of sorts, as long as he is not harassing them about whatever it is that he needs to harass them about. He even inspires some, like Kevin Thant or Victor Angeline. Joonyoung inspires Victor so much, in fact, that he even dressed up as him for Halloween (despite the fact that Joonyoung did not recognize his wannabe).
Despite his silliness and gracious professionalism, Joonyoung holds a very special place in all our hearts (especially the writers of this article). Joonyoung has left such a significant and profound impact on our community not just with his wisdom and leadership, but also with his demure (he hates the modern use of that word) laugh, randomly deep conjectures, and oddly specific historical references. Joonyoung, thank you for all you have done and will continue to do to our Exeter community. You have left an incredible impact on our lives (and our grammar usage).
