Meet Jacob Luckenbaugh: News Editor

The former clay graphic designer and political analyst, Jacob Luckenbaugh returns this school year with the upgraded and esteemed position of News Editor. He lives in Virginia as a legal adult (18 years old), dog owner (of Luca, a mix of many breeds), and INFP by the MBTI test. As a senior, his third and last year at TPS will also be his third and last with clay—his sophomore year was his first as a homeschooler, and also as a TPSer. Having previously gone to a private school, he now enjoys the freedom to choose his courses and schedule to suit his interests due to the more flexible structure of homeschooling.

As is fitting for his position, Jacob’s academic interests mainly lie in government, history, and social sciences. He imagines taking his career towards policy, law, or a similar field after completing high school this year. A practical person, he prefers to have all his tasks written out in order to organize his work. However, he also dislikes being a micromanaging planner (perhaps this is why his plants sometimes die—but he does feel guilty about that, so he’s not a cold-blooded killer). In the coming school year, he’ll be taking three classes with TPS: AP Psychology, English 5/6 World Literature, and Physics. 

Outside of school, Jacob plays tennis casually and reads. One of his favorite books is The Book Thief, a story of a young girl defying Nazi censorship during World War II—but in terms of well-known books, he also enjoys the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. His spare time goes towards many forms of art, such as painting, drawing, and even occasionally sculpting clay.

Unironically, he’ll also be sculpting clay, or at least the News section of it. Jacob finds the connecting power of language fascinating, as it allows people in completely different contexts with different perspectives and ideas to interact—and as TPS itself has demonstrated, to form bonds. He will be looking forward to sharing viewpoints on world events with the TPS community in the coming year.