Alright, come on.

Hi Selena, how long have you been here in San Diego, City Heights community?

I've lived here for two years.

Two years, and which neighborhood do you live?

I live…

What's your place called?

I live off 50th street.

How do you like about the neighborhood?

It's nice, it's quiet there.

It's nice and quiet did you say?

Yeah.

What are the diversity ways that you find in your neighborhood?

Like there's different diversities and different races, like there's Mexicans, then there's like Asians, and there's different cultures and stuff.

Do you guys get along with each other?

Well, we don't really talk.

Why would you guys not talk with each other? It's a neighbor.

I don't know, we never go, I don't know. I've never really like, just talked. I don't know why.

In your opinion, what would be the reason behind that?

I don't know. We just don't care.

How would you describe, is it because of different cultures that you don't like to talk to each other? Or it's like we don't care?

I guess it's just like we're always busy and we're never like around to talk to anyone.

What was you impression when you came to Crawford High, because it's so diverse and so many other countries, people come from different countries and doesn't speak English and you speak pretty well English, so how would you feel about that?

I was surprised, because at my old school, we didn't have that much diversity. It was mostly like white kids, and there was occasionally some other kids that came from different countries but there were only like two or three in a class of mine, so there weren't very many.

What's your opinion about New Arrival students here in Crawford?

I think, I don't know, I think that like for a lot of them it takes like a while to learn new things. I had two friends that were, that came from Vietnam, and one from Jordan, and it took them a long time to learn even a little bit of English, so it's like, a whole different world for them to come over here and just like, learn everything.

How would you describe the process of meeting people and making friends for new arrival students here at Crawford?

Well, you should go talk to them. And people should go talk to them, not be afraid to talk to them because they might be a little shy to talk to you.

About like, your neighborhood, do you feel safe walking around, going home from school, to school, home, how do you feel about that?

Yeah, I feel safe. I walk around the neighborhood and nothing really happens. I guess it was like one time at Colina Park but it was only bad then.

So, would you say you never faced any trouble or like you face any?

Not really, I don't really face any trouble. 

And how about like political thing around here, how do you say about it, like the mayor constructing roads, or the school being, you know, modified with the schedules and stuff, how would you describe about that?

Well, it's good that they're fixing stuff up over here because, I mean, they usually fix things at more suburban neighborhoods and not really over here. So, it's good that they're making changes.

And how long do you think that fixing stuff like roads and other construction take so long?

Why it takes so long?

I don't know. Because they're just making so many changes that it takes a while to fix it, to change it.

Do you feel like, about finding part time jobs, or jobs for adults, is it easier to get over here or you have to go somewhere else to find a job?

Over here, part time jobs, I don't know, it's probably more difficult because, everyone wants a job over here cause everybody needs to like, pay bills I guess. That's why its simpler to go get a job in other places that are, I don't know, don't have so many people that need a job.

And what are the different food and restaurants that you see around here? Cultural restaurants.

There's a lot of different restaurants over here, like, I don't know, there's Vietnamese food and different foods, like at other places you'll just see Jack in the Box, Burger King, and McDonalds, but over here it's like different small restaurants.

How proud do you feel about being a City Heights community member?

I feel proud. I mean, it's good. It's not really like a bad community, it's a good community to live in, but like it has like a bad reputation, but it's actually really good. It's nice to live here.

Can you give me an example of when you say it's good, like what kind of good?

A lot of the people here like, they're like, more nicer and like at the schools, at Crawford, the students are nicer, and not like, where I used to live, people were always getting in your business and like bothering you a lot.

Do you have any idea about how your parents feel about staying here in City Heights neighborhood?

My mom, I don't know, I don't know how she feels about staying here, in City Heights. I don't think she really likes staying here right now and she's trying to get more money, get a better job so we can move. 

What are the different cultural organizations that you see around here in City Height?

The different cultural organizations?

Like, you know, they have Karen organization, Somali Family Service, and like other stuff.

I don't really notice those. I never heard of them.

How often do you get involved in youth program in the City Heights area, like in school or outside of school?

Well I was involved in something with Connect Careers for like young teens who are trying to get a job and stuff and they help them out, so I was involved with that and it's over here in City Heights.

What did you guys do there?

We got interviewed by, they taught us about how to get a job and how to get a resume, and then, that same day we were interviewed by like employers who want to give us a job and a few of us got a job that day. I got a job. We got to work with that employer.

How long did you work, and what was the job?

I worked during spring break and winter break, and I had two jobs. I had one at the San Diego Housing Commission, and was basically just, help them out with a lot of things they had for like young teens getting jobs and stuff, and then I had one at Ocean Discovery, the Ocean Discovery Institute, and I basically, I like, I packed their bags so they could go on hikes and stuff, and I made like food and I got to meet a lot of the kids that were a part of the Ocean Discovery and a lot of them went to Hoover, so it was cool to meet them.

How would you describe to someone about City Heights?

I would describe it being like a small place, people are just nice and they're like, they don't really bother you or get into your business that much, and it's just like, quiet here I guess. 

Thank you.

Thank you.