Employee Spotlight

Yesenia Lopez

Octobers Employee Spotlight features the face of Casa Loma College – Yesenia Lopez! Whatever your mood is when you walk onto campus – it will immediately get better as Yesi welcomes you with her big warm smile 😊. But Yesi is more than a warm smile – she is a hard worker and will do anything asked of her and she does it at 1000%. Yesi is a force to be reckoned with and with her determination and dedication to whatever she does – she will go far in this world. Casa Loma College is a brighter place with Yesi!

Tell Us About Yourself? Where were you born? Have you always lived in California? Family? Children? Hello!
California has watched me grow!! I have a fur child whose name is Kingston. I adopted him when he was two after his prior owners could not keep him. He is a 4-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He is royal and he knows it. 😊

What is your favorite thing about your job and Casa Loma College?
I have been with Casa Loma College for almost 2 years and love greeting everyone that walks in through that door! I greet about 100+ plus students daily and am very good with names. The students even get surprised that I remember who they are. It is important for me to know our students as I will be seeing them for the next few years and building a relationship means a lot! I try to help them – from making copies, getting their information updated and just having everyday chats with them!

Also, if it were not for my co-workers here at Casa Loma, I would have not started college myself. And I am so thankful for that. Sometimes we all need a little push to get moving.

What was the last experience that made you stronger?
A recent experience that made me stronger was learning that my dog was diagnosed with diabetes. I never thought that dogs could get diabetes! The Vet told me that I had to inject him with insulin twice a day and I got scared! I do not like needles. Facing my fear is making me stronger to make sure he stays alive for more years to come!

Who Has Influenced You the Most in Life and Why?
My mother – a single mother of two at the age of 21. She is a superwoman who did not let anything get in her way and provided as much as she could for us to be good. She remarried and gave me two more younger siblings, they have been our greatest gifts!

If you could do another job, anywhere, for just one day, what would it be? And why?
A professional food taster! I love to taste all different types of food; the good thing is that I am not a picky eater. There are so many flavor combinations to explore. I am always on Yelp searching for the next restaurant to try. I have a list of 30 restaurants but due to the pandemic, my food tasting has been placed on hold.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
I would like to learn a third language, preferably Chinese. Though I am bilingual, it is amazing how our brain automatically adapts to new things.

If You Could Have Dinner with One Person, Living or Dead, Who Would It Be and why?
Frida Kahlo – she has been an inspiration to me, apart from her style. She was a very strong woman defining her own standards and refused to be looked to as an ugly woman with disabilities. She did not agree with societies standards about having a physical disability after her almost deadly accident. She embraced her disability by painting self-portraits from her bed that made her one of the most famous painters in the world. Probably not dinner but a paint night for sure.

How Do You Like to Spend Your Free Time?
If I have any “free time” I check my “to-do” list and cross off some things I had written down when I did not have the time to complete them then.

Best vacation you have ever had?
My family and I spent a week in Oahu, Hawaii. It was a great experience as we got to taste new food and drove all around the island. We also climbed all the way to the top of Diamond Head, a volcanic tuff cone, a trail that climbs 560 feet from the floor to the summit! The 360-degree view in the end was rewarding!

Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad, but it turned out to be for the best?
Not recently, but I did attend three high schools! It was hard to keep and make friends. But when I graduated from my last high school, I was happy with the friends that I made.

What would people be surprised to know about you?
I collect anything hippopotamus. You would be surprised to know how difficult it is to find anything hippo. Why a hippo you may ask? We celebrate Valentines day, and I remember when my mom brought me a giant plush hippo and ever since then I fell in love. Every time I get or buy one, it brings me happy memories.