Employee Spotlight

Khamsay Sasengbong

Tell Us About Yourself?

I am the youngest of 4 siblings. I have an older brother and 2 older sisters. I was only 3 months old when we came the United States. Our family was fortunate to have been sponsored by a family in Lincoln Kansas. After few years in the cold my parents wanted to be closer to family and warmer weather, so they decided to move us to California in the early 80’s. I have lived here ever since.

Tell Us About Your Educational Background.
I always did well in school growing up. I loved playing sports and running. I was the only Asian kid on my 8^th grade basketball team (Marshall Middle School). The school chooses one boy and one girl for the Kelly Weldon Most Inspirational Athlete Award and I was chosen that year by my P.E teachers. It is still a very fond memory of mine. I was also on the Millikan High School frosh/soph soccer team. We won Moore league Champs that year. I later transferred and played for Long Beach Poly JV soccer team. Life as a teenager then was very tough with so many different influences, so my parents decided it was best for me at that time to finish High School doing home studies. In 2008 I graduated from Long Beach City College Diagnostic Medical Imaging program. I am currently working towards my bachelor’s degree.

What Inspired You to Pursue This Career Path?
I would like to help inspire the next generation of healthcare workers.

What Areas Within This Field Are of Interest to You? Is There an Area You Are More Focused On?
I enjoy communication, guiding, teaching, and collaborating with all the different students and managers at the various clinical sites. Helping someone achieve a lifelong goal is very satisfying. I am not too focused on one thing but a variety of things from life in general. I feel there is always room for improvement and room to learn and grow as a person.

Is There Any Research You Are Working On?
I have read and done some research on philosophy. I read books on Bruce Lee and his philosophy on how he approached combat. What I took from it is that in life we have choices and those choice can have an impact on our lives positive or negative.

What Have Been Your Most Important, Proudest And/or Favorite Experiences in Your Career?
I am very proud and grateful to be in the position I am in today as one of the MRI Academic Clinical Coordinator of Education and to be part of an organization that helps shape the future of so many lives. I was once a student myself and graduating was a feeling I will never forget. Knowing that I can help people have that same feeling is amazing.

What Brought You to Teach at Casa Loma College?
I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, the people we encounter every day, happens for a reason. I feel that the people I have come across in my life help guide me to where I am at today. For that I am forever grateful.

What Is Your Favorite Part of Working with Adult Students?
I can relate to them. I know what a challenge it is to raise a child, work, and go to school, and, hopefully, what I have experienced will help motivate and guide them as well.

What Attracted You to The Field of Education?
It was not a field that I was looking into when I first got into the medical field. I was an Xray clinical coordinator for Whittier Presbyterian Intercommunity and I enjoyed it and missed doing it when I left. I think my career path has led me here at Casa Loma for a purpose.

Who Has Influenced You the Most in Life?
My parents. They did what they could without speaking English. They were able to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. It was a struggle, but never once did they show it. In life you must adjust to every situation you come across and keep on trucking, that is what I learned from them the most.

If You Could Have Dinner with One Person, Living or Dead, Who Would It Be?
 First would be one of my best friends that passed away. We used to do a lot of fishing together and would go have dinner and joke around about the day we just had.  Second would be Warren Buffet, I would like to pick his brains on his success.

How Do You Like to Spend Your Free Time?
I love fishing, grilling and just hanging out with family and friends.

What is something you want to do that you have never done before?
I would love to go visit the motherlands of Laos where we were from. I was only an infant when we left, and I have yet to visit. I will someday, hopefully sooner than later.

What is your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
Maui. Life is so relaxing out there. The food is amazing, weather is great year-round, and the positive vibe is unexplainable.

What is your favorite book(s) and why? Your favorite movie?
My favorite book is “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. He details the differences humans have from one person to the next.  There are so many great movies but if I had to pick one it would be “Heat”.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One of the best advice I heard was from a book written by Deepak Chopra called “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”. There is a quote in the book that states “The most powerful form of giving are non-material – the gifts of caring, attention, affection, appreciation and love are some of the most precious gifts you can give and they don’t cost you anything”