Julia Alexander
Julia Alexander has had an extremely successful high school career. From being an All-County softball player, to achieving high marks in all of her classes, she stood out above the rest. Alexander’s favorite memory of Damascus happened during her sophomore year. “I love the memory of winning [softball] states. It meant so much to me and my family. That has to be my favorite memory, maybe even from my whole life”, Alexander expressed excitedly. Her whole life she has looked up to her dad as a role model. “My dad is good at everything. I love him and look up to him”, Alexander shared. Her love for softball does extend to other sports too, one of those being baseball. Her favorite article that she wrote this year was her profile on Gunnar Henderson. Alexander explained that, “I love the Orioles and writing about one of my favorite players was really fun”. All of her contributions this year have been noticed and appreciated by all. Her role as an AP style editor has helped form and finalize many articles. We wish Julia the best of luck at Shepherd University as a softball commit. She plans to study communications and everyone knows she will do great things!
Theo Ellestad
A wonderful writer for The Buzz, he wrote multiple articles, including ones covering life on Mars and the Paranormal club, with the latter being his favorite to write due to his natural interest in the topic. Finding curiosity in cryptozoology and paranormal phenomena, it felt like a natural segue into covering these topics for The Buzz. His favorite memory was performing with the Color Guard during halftime on the field, something he remembers fondly as being something he found to be quite fun. His best piece of advice to the underclassmen was that “even though these things seem hard, it’s worth pursuing”. Some of his plans for next year is obtaining his associate’s degree of General Studies at Montgomery College in Germantown, then attending a four-year university for a bachelor’s degree and eventually a masters degree. He gave a shout out to his freshman year history teacher, Mr. Spoales for being his favorite teacher throughout all four years of high school.
Joshua Farber
Joshua Farber was a beloved writer for The Buzz, and in his first year writing he had picked up the action quicker than most people have before. Growing a love for journalism, Joshua wrote articles about the newest principal of Damascus High School Mr. Rohner, the 2024 election, and many other political topics with his favorite article being about a man who was falsely deported to a prison in El Salvador, with this he covered mass deportations as a whole. In his spare time, Joshua enjoys spending time outside with his dogs, watching marvel movies, cooking, and every day learning something new by reading about current affairs and government. When asked about his favorite memory at DHS, Joshua stated: “My favorite memory was definitely doing Science Olympiad, because I met many people I otherwise wouldn’t have interacted with; it was a very fun experience”. After graduation, Joshua is attending Hood College in Frederick Maryland to study Political science. Joshua left one piece of advice for all underclassmen attending Damascus: “Always stick to your convictions, even if they aren’t popular”.
Gabriel Isla
This was Gabe’s first year as a news writer for The Buzz. He wrote many great articles, but his favorite article to write was “Beyond Boy Bands: The Complexity of Brockhampton”. Gabe listened to this band and shared the sentiment that “it kinda sucked when they split up”. Gabe believes underclassmen should be more engaged with the school and its opportunities. Given that senior year is complicated, he advises underclassmen to enjoy their earlier high school years. As for next year’s seniors, Gabe says to “do your college applications early”. Gabe’s favorite DHS memory took place during his freshman year, when “people put monitors in the toilets”. While it was “kinda weird”, he thought it was also “funny”. His favorite part of high school was all the moments when there was nothing to do and he could enjoy time with friends. Next year, Gabe will be attending Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he will major in marketing and pursue a career in advertising. Gabe leaves Damascus High School and its students with one message: “Stay focused”.
Khushi Kapoor
Khushi Kapoor is an excellent writer and an important member of The Buzz. This year was the first time she had written for the newspaper, and she has written amazing articles as the Entertainment Co-Editor. When asked what article she enjoyed writing the most, Kapoor said, “I really enjoyed writing the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ article because I got the opportunity to nerd out and just have fun”. This is because “Pirates of the Caribbean” is one of her favorite movies, along with “Pride and Prejudice”. She was part of the drama club at the school and has been in multiple plays. For example, she was part of the musical “Guys and Dolls” this year. In which she played Sergeant Sarah Brown. When asked her favorite memory of being in DHS, she says, “My favorite memory is just having fun with all my friends no matter where I am”, and “It’s hard picking on a specific memory”. Some advice she has for underclassmen is “Don’t forget to have fun and enjoy high school”. After high school, Khushi will attend the University of Maryland, majoring in Immersive Media Design and minoring in Archaeology and Theatre. All the Buzz staff wish her the best of luck in college and on her path through this new chapter of her life!
Andrew Klein
Andrew was a first-year writer for The Buzz this year. When he was not writing for The Buzz, he was running for his cross-country and outdoor track team. Andrew has written many articles for The Buzz, articles about the cross country team, the track team, the Oregon Ducks football team, and how stocks are being affected by Trump’s tariffs. Andrew’s favorite article he wrote was on the Oregon Ducks football team because he is very passionate about sports. His favorite DHS memory was a tie between senior sunrise and senior skip day. Advice he had for underclassmen was to not give up towards the end of senior year even though it might seem very dreadful to go to school. He also encouraged rising seniors to get their college applications submitted early and don’t procrastinate. After high school, Andrew plans on attending Loyola University Maryland and running on their Cross Country team.
Allyson Ossipo
Allyson Ossipo was a critical part of The Buzz staff. From managing the social media accounts to writing fun articles, Ossipo was a ray of sunshine in the writer’s room. Her funny jokes and interesting stories made for some of the best memories of this year. Ossipo wrote many articles this year. Some articles were on serious topics, such as fast fashion and the death of Liam Payne, while others were more lighthearted, such as final senior events and the SZA profile. When Ossipo was asked about her favorite article she wrote this year, she responded, “I loved writing about the final events as a senior since I was currently experiencing my final school events”. Ossipo said that her biggest role model is her best friend, Ellis Vunga. “I love her so much and she’s so awesome”. Ossipo spoke highly of all of her friends and reminisced on her favorite Damascus memories. She said her fondest memories from the past four years happened after she made the decision to play school volleyball. “It brought me my closest friends and helped me find my new favorite sport”. Her plans for next year are to attend Clemson University and study biology. Ossipo wants to thank all of her teachers, her mom, and one of her best friends, Jayden, for getting her through high school. We wish Ally the best as she steps into this new chapter of her life and furthers her education.
Juliana Ruffner
Juliana Ruffner is one of the most talented writers The Buzz has had. She contributed heavily as the assistant Editor-In-Chief. Her dedication to school, in general, is astounding. Her high grades in each class and positive remarks from all teachers proved her to be one of the highest achieving students in Damascus. Ruffner attests her passion and drive in school to her role model, her mom. “My mom is the most driven and passionate person I know. She inspires me every day”, Ruffner explained. Her favorite article she wrote this school year was about Jarren Duran and his struggles with mental health. She said the best part of writing this article was digging deeper on his life and finding out little facts about his life. She enjoyed learning more about her favorite MLB player. During her time at Damascus, Ruffner remembers one event better than the rest. “This year’s prom was so fun. I feel like since it was my last one it stood out to me more than previous years”. Ruffner asserts. She wants to give extra thanks to Ms. Morgan for being her emotional support for all of high school. Ruffner plans to attend John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan where she will major in forensic psychology. We all wish Juliana the best and we know she is going to do great things!
Lilly Tran
This was Lilly Tran’s first year writing for The Buzz as a staff writer. So many memories were made and amazing stories that Lilly has written that stood out to readers. Tran loved writing “Banned: hits too close to society’s ignorance and fears”. She expressed that it was a “really fun one to write and i had a really good interview with Mrs. Ward and there was just a lot of talk about the article”. Lilly is an academic weapon when it comes to math and science courses therefore is a part of many Honors Societies such as English Honors Society, NRIAM, Blue Alpha Beta, Science National Honors Society, and Science Olympiads where she “had a lot of fun”. Lilly is also a board member of the Asian Heritage Club and contributed to the meaningful inaugural assembly. Lily has done so much over the years and has had a lot of mentors to guide her along the way. Tran explains that “Mr. Dow and Mrs. Swamy had helped me with math over the years and my science teacher helped me out”. Since Lilly is graduating this Friday she is reflecting on how Damascus High School shaped her into the person she is today. This school “has taught me how to grow as a student and how I learn and study and to keep on working and strive for what I want and just to keep on going and work hard, and how I work with people and teachers”. Besides academics Lilly’s favorite thing to do when she has down time at school is “spending time in the math teacher’s rooms with friends and drawing funny doodles on the board”. A lot of incoming seniors are scared of the unknown when it comes to next year Lilly gives them advice by saying “ make sure you start them [college applications] early and don’t fall behind on them and ask for letters of recommendation early and have an idea for your essay and don’t stop working hard you have done so much already burn out the last the last few months. You have one more year and I know you guys can do it”. In the end, Lilly wouldn’t “change anything, but try out for a symphonic orchestra earlier”. Lilly is going to the University of Maryland to study biomedical engineering.
Kasey Yu
This year was Kasey Yu’s first year writing for The Buzz and she was a valued member of AP Style & Copy Team. Yu has written amazing stories over the school year but her favorite story she has written was “‘The Interesting Life of the Spotted Hyena.’ It was really fun to write, it wasn’t really serious at all and it was interesting to learn about”. Kasey served as a board member of the Asian Heritage Club and briefly joined the SGA.” She has strived with academics throughout her four years at Damascus. There were teachers that helped her get to where she is now. Kasey opens up and says that her favorite teacher she worked with was “Mrs Jennings … She is so kind and supportive and every time I was in her class I felt so safe was such a great teacher and she really liked bio and her students”. When seniors graduate it is common to look back at the past to see what they could have done differently if they were freshman again. Kasey expresses that during “Freshman year I was awkward like I didn’t want to talk to anybody but I feel like I know how to talk to people now. I am still quiet I guess but I am more able to connect with people. I definitely would be more outgoing, one of my regrets is sometimes I wish I met my friends earlier so we could spend more time together”. Around this time, many rising seniors get nervous and scared about how next year will go. Kasey gives them advice and says “make sure you communicate to your teachers and counselors because they know how to help you if you are like me and are stupid and too scared to talk to your teachers, you are going to get yourself in a lot more trouble and 10 times more stressful, they aren’t going to bite you they will help you out. Join a lot of clubs”. Kasey will attend Montgomery College where she will study for Accounting and Digital Art.
