Youth Participants (2022-23)
The 2022-2023 KSP Cohort comprised of young journalists from Koreatown or interested in Koreatown. They delved into learning about the Koreatown food industry. Exploring the businesses, employees, and chefs that make Koreatown an iconic culinary destination.
Benjamin Yoo
Youth Participant
Benjamin is a sophomore at Flintridge Preparatory school. He does cross country and public forum debate. He has been going to Koreatown since childhood and wants to become more connected with both the area and its people. Benjamin has always enjoyed eating in Koreatown and is excited to get to learn about the backgrounds of how it has influenced people's lives. He is interested in journalism because it’s an excellent way to record and save history, as well as get perspectives from different people. He one day wants to have a job in the entertainment industry.
Ben’s story →
Nadia Cho
Youth Participant
Nadia is a sophomore at South Pasadena High School in South Pasadena. She has always had an interest in her Korean heritage and wanted to explore Koreatown’s past to help her connect back to her family and culture. Food has always been a center of interest when it comes to her memories of Koreatown and she is excited to dive deeper into the topic. Nadia enjoys learning about the topic of business and competes on the state level in several business competitions. She hopes to pursue business management on a professional level. In her free time, Nadia swims and plays water polo for her school’s varsity teams.
Nadia’S story →
Abigail Kim
Youth Participant
Abigail is a junior at New Covenant Academy (NCA) in Los Angeles. She has lived in Los Angeles for the majority of her life and attended NCA since fourth grade. She joined KSP because she wanted to explore and learn more about the different aspects of Koreatown and other people's perspectives. Abigail lived with her Korean-speaking grandparents for the first ten years of her life and is fluent in Korean and English. Abigail is interested in the medical field and volunteers at different hospitals. She is also the vice president of her school’s student council and is a member of the school’s journalism club. She participates as a member of the school cheer team and is very confident to announce her opinions. Abigail hopes to attend USC and study pre-med to become a registered nurse in the future.
Abigail’s story →
Dale Lee
Youth Participant
Dale is a senior at New Covenant Academy in Los Angeles. Having lived in Koreatown his whole life and wants to discover more about its history and elders. He’s learned a lot listening to stories from K-Town elders and hopes to continue to do so! He loves to cook, trying out a variety of foreign foods and experimenting with recipes of his own. Hopefully working with food in Koreatown, he’ll be able to expand his view on K-Town dishes. He also loves to play volleyball and is a part of his school’s team. In the future, he hopes to study the field of engineering.
Dale's story →
Cira Mejia
Youth Participant
Cira is a junior at Larchmont Charter High School in Los Angeles, where she has lived her entire life. At her school, Cira oversees the Sages and Seekers program and serves as its ambassador. With the goal of fostering understanding and connections, the program Sages and Seekers link the younger and elder generations. She has a strong passion for music, and throughout her freshman and sophomore years, she has published two singles. Whether it's poetry, song lyrics, or more recently journaling, Cira enjoys writing and building upon her skills. Throughout the program, she aims to forge new relationships and discover more about her community. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career as a writer or musician.
Cira's story →
Emily Morales
Youth Participant
Emily is a junior at Larchmont Charter in Koreatown and has lived there her entire life. She has a passion for tutoring and has been tutoring since her freshman year. She enjoys sketching and painting and is trying to learn new languages like Mandarin in which she took a college class. Currently, she is a leader for the business department as well as a board member of scholars circle for her school. She has also been a member of the National Honors Circle. Her interest in her community grew significantly last year when she started exploring parts of Los Angeles, especially Koreatown. She is interested in this program because she knew this would be a new and amazing experience. Currently, she is hoping to attend Brown University like her sister or any UC.
Emily's story →
Ethan Rhee
Youth Participant
Ethan is a junior currently attending La Canada High School. Since he was young, Ethan’s memories surrounding his Korean heritage have revolved around going out to eat in Koreatown with his grandfather, who also happens to be a former journalist. Hence, he has also found writing as an academic interest as the Deputy Editor of a global Op-Ed publication called The Outspoken as well as a contributor to the LA Times High School Insider. He is also the Co-Founder of Published Points of View, a nonprofit working to teach journalism and critical thinking to students in underserved communities throughout Los Angeles. In addition, he is a competitive saber fencer on the national circuit and a Speech and Debate Captain at his high school. In the future, whether or not it be through journalism, Ethan hopes to fully manifest the power of writing to create social change.
Ethan'S story →
Abbi Park
Youth Participant
Abbi is a Junior at Orange County School of the Arts studying Creative Writing. At school, she is the Captain of the competing cybersecurity and coding team and President of the Asian Pacific Islander Student Union, which focuses on amplifying AAPI voices on campus. Through her exploration of her own Korean identity, she has created an AAPI class curriculum and distributed it to over 250+ teachers nationally. Some of her passions outside of AAPI activism include social media marketing, website development, and videography. In her free time, she enjoys eating, trying new restaurants with family, and playing with her 3 reptiles.
ABBI'S story →
Isleen Lee
Youth Participant
Isleen is a freshman at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. At school, she is a part of the Asian American Culture Club and the Community Service Club to help contribute to her local community. She genuinely appreciates her Korean heritage and background. It is her belief that it’s essential to dive deeper into the voices of the minority or suppressed. She enjoys writing articles, interviewing people, and getting to share the stories of the often silenced, but impactful members of her community. She has lived in Koreatown ever since she was 3 years old and is fluent in Korean. Isleen plays archery competitively, so she works very hard to be the best that she can be. In the future, she hopes to go into the law/political science field or into medicine.
Isleen'S story →
Julia Kim
Youth Participant
Julia is a senior at John Marshall High in Los Angeles. They’ve lived in Koreatown for 17 years and their mother is a waitress in the Koreatown food industry. Their passion in journalism is writing and photography, having been in yearbook club and having an interest in being an English major. They are the vice president of their school’s psychology club and vice president of their school’s feminist-based coding club. They also play guitar as well as playing cello in their school’s orchestra. In the future, they plan to study pre-med/biochemistry or English.
Julia'S story →
Ava McCollum
Youth Participant
Ava is a senior at Marlborough School in Los Angeles. She is particularly interested in journalism and began her own organization BOS Coalition to highlight the stories of AAPI community members. She releases verbal interviews on Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts, and more, and displays written interviews on her website www.boscoalition.com This is her second year with the Koreatown Storytelling Program (KSP) and she is excited to jump in and explore the community through interviews, research, and communication.
Ava'S story →
Lauren Cho
Youth Participant
Lauren is a junior at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena. At school, this will be her first year taking on two leadership positions: co-head of both Math Club and Korean Affinity. Outside of school, she enjoys making art and taking photos. She will be continuing with the program Las Fotos Project for her second semester this fall in the Creative Entrepreneurship Opportunities (CEO) class and her first year as a member of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC), a student council of ten members who advocate for and represent the project. She joined KSP because she currently resides in Koreatown and thought the program would be a new opportunity to explore her own Korean heritage through food and get to know the residents in her neighborhood from a different perspective. Through the program, Lauren hopes to bring the stories of individuals in the Koreatown food industry to life.
Lauren'S story →
Nathalie De Mata
Youth Participant
Nathalie is a junior at Larchmont Charter School in Los Angeles. She has lived here for most of her life and has recently, in the past year, begun to explore new parts of Los Angeles including Koreatown. She has, in the past, taken yearbook and photography classes in school, but has been interested in photography as a hobby for most of her life. Lately, she has been interested in interviewing others, specifically small businesses, and having more social interactions with people around L.A. She is interested in this program because she thought it would be an interesting experience and a good opportunity to get involved with others in her local area. Right now she is also trying to learn the piano as a hobby, as well as get engaged in more community-building projects. In the future, she hopes to attend a UC school.
Nathalie'S story →
Chase Nam
Youth Participant
Chase is a sophomore at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. He has lived in La Canada for the past two years and lived in Koreatown before then. He is interested in journalism and writing as an outlet to express ideas or spread information that he feels is important. Though he spent his childhood in Koreatown, he does not know much about it and wants to explore more of its culture and history. He is able to speak and understand basic Korean, swims at school and club, and contributes to his school paper. He hopes to study marine biology and ichthyology in the future.
Chase'S story →
Christine Choi
Youth Participant
Christine is a sophomore at Alameda High School in Alameda. She is interested in exploring Koreatown’s history because, as a Korean-American, she wants to learn more about her culture in the East Bay–where she was born and raised. She is passionate about writing and reading and is even taking creative writing at school. She loves art, especially drawing with oil pastels, and is in the Environmental club. As a circus contortionist, Christine is extremely flexible and can touch her head to her back! In the future, she hopes to study something in the neurology field and have a career in neuroscience.
Christine'S story → 
Penelope Salomon
Youth Participant
Penelope is a senior at the International School of Los Angeles, enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Programme. She is a part of the Korean Storytelling Program’s Oakland Koreatown Project and is excited to learn more about the Korean community in her hometown and in the Bay Area, especially since they are so flagrantly underrepresented. The idea of recording peoples’ unique oral histories and documenting their individual narratives ignites her passion for oral history. She is also a part of KORYO, the Koreatown Organizing to Reduce Youth Opioid Use, and is really looking forward to making a difference in her community and trying to decrease the effects of addiction. She hopes to pursue a career in International Relations, Political Science, or Journalism!
Penelope's story →