The Events of January 6th ft. Lukas Luna, Diego E. Martinez, Kelly Zabala

This Downey Legend podcast contains opinions.

Diego Martinez, Lukas Luna, and Kelly Zabala
January 27, 2021

About the Contributors

Former Copy Editor, Diego Martinez, 12, has been on The Downey Legend staff for the past 2 years and is going into his first as Co-Editor in Chief. Outside of the classroom Martinez enjoys listening to various music genres, learning and composing on his guitar, and writing on the side. Although undecided of his college major, Martinez aims to continue to express his creative side by one day recording his own music and living off his art in music and writing.

As someone who loves to showcase his thoughts through creative expression, Martinez believes that we can use our own struggles to create art. “I think the thought process that I like to keep is that life is uncertain to the point where we lose trust in ourselves and begin to doubt the ability to slay our own dragons,” Martinez stated. “It took me more than just a small while to realize that we can always smile at our own shadow, our own subconscious traits that shackle us, and write down every small aspect that forms our very soul - and make art with it.”

Lukas Luna, Co-Copy Editor

In his second year as Co-Copy Editor, Lukas Luna, 12, intends to fulfil his future plan of continuing his passion for journalism. With this being his third year in Newspaper, as well as being a Downey High School writing center tutor, Luna works hard to challenge himself. He is always willing to push his boundaries, as he just recently interned for “Voices of Creativity” this summer where he got to interview author and educator, Renaldo Lawrence.

Luna explains that covering event stories are his favorite part of Newspaper. “It’s the most memorable, the most exciting,” Luna said. “It’s hands on, where you feel the most official, where you’re able to get those ‘in the moment quotes.’

Kelly Zabala, Writer

As a hardworking student-athlete, Kelly Zabala, 12, wrestles on the girls wrestling team and is a writer for the Downey Legend. She manages her love for both activities because she finds writing to be enjoyable and wrestling to be vigorous. Aside from her extracurriculars, Zabala plans on going to Unity College in Maine in order to receive a degree in marine biology so she can fulfill her dream as a marine veterinarian.

She’s done lots of research and knows what is currently happening in the ocean, “I want to help make a big impact, there is a lot going on in the ocean and it is a big source of our life that is currently being damaged by human technology,” Zabala said. “It is very heartbreaking to me, which is why I want to help take care of the Ocean and ocean life.”