{"id":83002,"date":"2017-12-08T21:03:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T21:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kyccla.org\/portrait\/damaris\/"},"modified":"2017-12-08T21:03:09","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T21:03:09","slug":"damaris","status":"publish","type":"portrait","link":"https:\/\/www.kyccla.org\/es\/portrait\/damaris\/","title":{"rendered":"Damaris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Damaris was raised in Koreatown and was an active participant in KYCC’s YDAPP<\/a>\u2014Youth Drug Abuse Prevention Program\u2014a leadership program that trains youth advocates to raise substance abuse awareness among their peers in Koreatown and neighboring communities. She was also a K-Town is Your Town youth participant. She is currently a first-year student at CalState Northridge, but this interview took place when she was a high school senior.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Interview and photo by Daniel Choi<\/p>\n

Where is your hometown?<\/b><\/p>\n

Although I was born in downtown Los Angeles, I consider Koreatown to be my hometown since I have lived here throughout most of my childhood. My family and I moved here when I was six years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, my family\u2019s financial instability prevented us from getting a home so we had to live with my uncle. We finally moved into our own apartment when I was six years old, but this wasn\u2019t our permanent residence. We had to move again when I was 11, but it was only a couple of blocks away. We moved again when I was in sixth grade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you live or work in Koreatown?<\/b><\/p>\n

My home is in Koreatown but my school is in Silverlake. My school used to be in Koreatown, but the school moved buildings.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on Koreatown?<\/b><\/p>\n

Koreatown is a relatively calm place, compared to other areas of Los Angeles such as East L.A., where it is more dangerous. I\u2019ve never felt like I was in danger here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Koreatown is also very ethnically diverse, which is very nice. For example, a store I once visited for school supplies was owned by a person from Bangladesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

Koreatown has a nice environment and a lot of places to explore, mainly stores and places to eat. There is a Yogurtland, a bakery, a Thai restaurant and an ice cream shop in close proximity to where I live right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where is your favorite place in Koreatown?<\/b><\/p>\n

Melrose Street! This street contains many places I used to go as a child. My parents and I would often go to Jons<\/a>, a bakery where we would get tortillas, and a 99 cents store.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, I visited a store on Melrose Street to talk to the cashier, who is a close friend of mine. She was happy to see me. We were able to catch up and I told her that I will be graduating soon.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Damaris was raised in Koreatown and was an active participant in KYCC’s YDAPP\u2014Youth Drug Abuse Prevention Program\u2014a leadership program that trains youth advocates to raise substance abuse awareness among their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-83002","portrait","type-portrait","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t