KORYO/Youth - Brianna Rizzo (Copy) — Koreatown Storytelling Program

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Diana. I'm 17— ready to be 18, but I'm 17. I am in my last year at Marymount High School, an all-girls school across from UCLA. It's been four years of being around mostly girls. I live in Koreatown, so I commute through the bus transportation that we have at our school. But yeah, I live in Koreatown. I do pretty much everything else in Koreatown. I eat, sleep, and live here.

Where were you born?
I was born in Huntington Beach, Orange County, but I moved to Koreatown when I was 5. Because I've lived here for so long, I would still consider it my hometown.

What has your experience living in Koreatown been for all these years?
For the most part, I like it here. Sometimes, I think about what it would be like to live elsewhere, but I'm happy with what I have in Koreatown. I'm happy with the places I live around and the food I have near me — all the fun stuff I have here. I have friends here, and that's special to me. There's a lot about Koreatown that keeps me here. I’m proud to be here. I like it here.

If you could move anywhere else, where would you go?
Okay, this will sound a little random, but [I’d go to] a completely different country. I am a very big fan of Canada. I don't know why — actually, I do know why. I visited Canada twice last year, and I've been to both the east and west sides. I went to Toronto and Vancouver. But the moment I stepped foot into that country, I swear, I felt like I knew I wanted to be there. The energy and the people — I appreciate it so much because I had such a good experience there. I don't even know why. Honestly, it's just something you can't explain. It's just like that “click” that you feel. I even talk to my mom [and say], “What if I live there?” or “What if we move there?” But it's not like I want to live in a different city; it's like I want to move to a whole other country. So that's probably a different conversation. But if I were to live in my dreams, that's probably where I'd be. The people there are just — you have to be there and feel it, and you'll be like, ‘I got it.’ I love it. But that’s in my wildest dreams, but something I'll do instead is just visit more often because that seems a little more practical for me right now. That's more realistic for me at this point in my 17-year-old life. I had a great time there. I recommend going to Toronto, at least. Toronto and the east side of Canada are the better parts.

Did you go on vacation there?
I wanted to go on vacation there just because of what I'd heard about it. I have a friend from my school who's from Toronto. She told me about it, which made me want to go, but I also like traveling in general. It made me more open to trying to go to a different country, and I just went to the one above ours, and it was great.

What is your favorite thing about Koreatown?
Koreatown is the best place to go if you don't know what to do — at least out of the places that I've been. I definitely feel like Koreatown is one of those places because there's just so much to do here. I can't keep mentioning this, but I'm going to mention the food and other fun things again. I don't know if you've been, but they have photo booths here. I've heard about them, and I've been to a few. I love that.

Koreatown is close to downtown; it's close to West Hollywood, and there's a lot to do in both places. There are a lot of cool things to do near it, even if it's not necessarily in Koreatown. It's nice to be there, so you can also try other things. They're not too far; it’s a good central place to live. Generally speaking, Koreatown’s a pretty good distance to everything that I'm interested in. It’s just a good place to live.

Do you have a favorite memory you’ve made here in Koreatown?
I attend Marymount High School, so that's not in Koreatown. It’s where UCLA is, so it’s in Westwood and quite a drive. I don't have many friends there who live in Koreatown; I did go to a school in Koreatown, but I should also mention that I've always gone to school at private institutions, so our student population has always been not predominantly Korean. I don't have as many friends in Koreatown or Korean friends as you might think.

My special memory comes from taking the time to hang out with my Koreatown friends because it's not as common for me; it's still like a rarity for me, and it's still something that I don't do on a daily basis. I still find it rare, so it's more special to me. Being able to go around with friends that I've made through BRIDGE because I've been a part of BRIDGE for a while and many volunteers from BRIDGE are located in Koreatown — it's easy for us to connect. I've also made friends through other activities I've been a part of here and there in Koreatown. The friendships I've created from all those activities and the time I take to meet those people in Koreatown are all very special.

But if I had to narrow it down, I like going to karaoke here. I haven't been many times, maybe two or three, but all the times I've been have been special — like we've gone after dinner, and it was always fun. I always like to keep a lot of videos from those days; that's probably one of the more special memories I have about Koreatown with my friends here.

Please mention a few programs that you have been involved in.
BRIDGE is the biggest or most significant program that has brought me closer to the most people. I've been volunteering at BRIDGE since last summer, and I think it's probably one of the best extracurriculars — one of the best things I've done. First of all, I love being around kids, and second of all, I love the community there. It's the place where I've made the biggest circle of friends. That's probably my number one priority. I also go to church. I have made friends from church who are here. I'm also now a part of KORYO, and many of us are in Koreatown, so I'm hopeful that I can connect with [those who live] in Koreatown.

How did you hear about KORYO, or how did you first get into this program?
It was through BRIDGE. I got an email that listed a couple of places where I could join other programs that KYCC offers. I was not keen on joining until I saw the flyer for KORYO, which intrigued me. It was just out of pure curiosity and interest in what it would be like, but I was grateful enough to have a couple of people come to my school and talk about drug abuse and educate us a little bit about it. It was only a one-hour session, and I felt left hanging. I wanted to be more aware of what had been touched upon on that day, so I applied when the opportunity rolled around for KORYO! I'm graciously here, now a couple of months in, and I've enjoyed it.

What do you think has been the biggest lesson you've taken out of KORYO?
Before I joined KORYO, everything — all the vocabulary, all the definitions, and new terms — were things that I knew of but didn't know what they actually were. They were just words to me, but I never bothered to understand what they were. I never bothered to learn about what opioids, stimulants, drug abuse, or any of those were. KORYO gave me good exposure to that. I know we still have so much to learn and be exposed to, but just a few weeks in, I feel much better about my knowledge of many of these things.

I was fascinated by the storytelling component because I like hearing and telling stories. I'm the type of person who always has a lot to share but has trouble wording everything correctly. I'm always conscious of how to say things, but I have things to say. I'm not as confident in letting out what I have to say. I don't feel satisfied with how I word things or say things sometimes, so I wanted to enhance and improve myself so I feel more comfortable and learn how to be a better speaker. I also want to listen to people better. Even though talking is important, listening, understanding, and hearing someone out is just as important, and I wanted to be knowledgeable of that.

How do you think that drugs have affected your Koreatown community?I don't have direct connections to anything that's happened in Koreatown regarding opioids and stimulants. But I see it at my school; that's not in Koreatown, but it's still a community I'm a part of. So, even though it's not Koreatown, I think it's valuable for me to use what I get from KORYO and apply it to my school community. I want to be a source of outreach and information to our community. I'm looking forward to being more involved.

Are there any ways you would like to help with all this new information from KORYO?
I want to be comfortable with what I'm saying, and the more comfortable I am with talking about something, the more assurance and comfort people who listen to me will get. That's what I'm getting from KORYO — being more informed — which contributes to my awareness of what I'm talking about. I want to be informed because people from Koreatown and everywhere are going through things that I can't imagine. Things I can't even think of and that you wouldn’t even expect to happen happen, and I understand that, and I want to be conscious and mindful of that. Being more informed about different experiences, I can be of better help and more of a source for real answers — allyship for the people in our community.

What is something you're looking forward to doing in this program?
We're already getting into it, but it's definitely the interviewing, and I'm already excited that we're getting this type of practice. I enjoy meeting new people and getting to know more about them. Even doing this with you, I'm glad we have this opportunity, and I find a lot of pleasure in having this time to converse with you — someone I'm excited to get to know more about. I look forward to that with every person I meet and work with. It also just gives you basic exposure to conversations, and as simple as that might sound, conversations aren't easy. It's hard for conversations to continue for a long time, but it shouldn't be like that. Conversations should be easygoing for everyone involved, and I want to promote that kind of energy.

Have you had any prior experience with storytelling?
If this sounds lame, I'm sorry, but I think I'm a pretty good storyteller for my friends. I always have a lot going on, and it's always fun to share, even when I've just been home all day or I'm not doing anything fun or interesting in particular. I don't want to make myself sound bad, but I'm pretty good at making things up. I enjoy it. Not to put more about me out there, and I'm not saying this is bad, but I'm very uncomfortable with awkwardness. So that pushes me to try to bring things up and exaggerate things — not to the point where I am crazy or psycho, but I like to have something to share at the table. In certain situations, you kind of want more energy than there is, so I like to try to pose different topics and throw something out there so it gets everyone else going.

Sometimes, it’s just so hard talking to my friends like that. Having a friend who is willing to talk and willing to connect like that is just so fun, and it makes us open up. It's amazing actually to have a trait like that!
I honestly think that it’s great on both sides. There's a person who might throw something out and another who contributes. One is not better than the other because there will always be someone who may share much more than me. Any conversation will flow if you're with people you want to be with. Even if there's nothing to say, just wanting to be there keeps you going, and it makes you start thinking about all these different things that you might want to talk about. I can't pre-plan anything. I never pre-plan for a conversation. You just look at the people you're with, look around where you are, and then start getting all these ideas. Then that's when you bring it up. From there, you might be talking about your favorite movie and then about your deepest secrets — one thing leads to another, so it never matters what you start with. You'll always get to a different point; conversations are cool because you never remember what a conversation begins and ends with. It is just a conversation, and you cherish it like that.

Koreatown Youth + Community Center
3727 W. 6th St., Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90020

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