Jason Sengsongkham interview
Item
Title
Jason Sengsongkham interview
Creator
Sengsongkham, Jason
Banh, Jenny
Relation
Central Valley Southeast Asian Successful Voices
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
6/29/2017
Rights
Copyright has been transferred to Fresno State
Identifier
SCMS_casv_00021
extracted text
>> Okay, thank you, Jason, for coming. If you can actually say your name and also if you could tell us the date, give us
verbal permission to interview as well as spell your name.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay. So, I'm Jason Sengsongkham give you, Jenny Wang [phonetic], permission to record
our conversation today. My name is spelled, J-A-S-O-N. Last name S-E-N-G-S-O-N-G-K-H-A-M.
>> Can you spell your last name one more time?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, S-E-N-G-S-O-N-G-K-H-A-M as in Mary.
>> Okay, K what?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: H.
>> K-H.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: A-M.
>> A-M. Okay. Thank you. Great. All right so we'll go over the same questions. Okay. Thank you so much for being
interviewed for the Voices of the Successful Southeast Asians. I've gone over the protocol and you've given me
permission so thank you so much for coming. What is your gender?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Male.
>> What, don't tell me the date of your birth but just the year that you were born.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: 1989.
>> What is your ethnic group?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Asian American.
>> What is your undergraduate major?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Communications.
>> What is your generation in the States.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It would be first generation.
>> First generation, oh, okay. Where were you born?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Fresno, California.
>> Fresno. Okay. What is your mother and father's highest graduation?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: My mother she received her high school diploma and then my father he got an associate's
degree at Fresno City College.
>> Wow, okay. What is your family composition? Which means like how many brothers and sisters do you have, you
know, who did you grow up?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: For sure. We have 7 total in our family. I have 4 sisters, 2 brothers.
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>> Wow. Okay. What was your GPA?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: In college? Oh, my master's degree or my ->> -- whatever you want to say. It doesn't really matter.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: My graduate degree [inaudible].
>> Okay, excellent. Okay. I don't know why I included that question. I don't know why I did that. What's your degree
aspiration? Like what's your ultimate degree aspiration?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, I just finished my masters.
>> Oh, congratulations.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Thank you. I finished that in September. Right now I'm just trying to sort of kind of career
wise trying to look into what I'd like to do with that particular degree. I'm hoping to get into human resources.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: But if that doesn't work out, I'm hoping or maybe thinking about pursuing a doctoral degree.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: On down the line.
>> We just opened, there's a new EDD now at Fresno State online with Channel Islands.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Oh, nice.
>> Yeah. I can send that to you later if you want.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, I'd like that.
>> Yeah, okay. And you know if you work at Fresno State tuition is free or lower.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I've got to get a job here first.
>> Yeah, right.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: [inaudible].
>> [Inaudible] actually anything would make it so. Just to tell you.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay, great.
>> For your family background do you come from working class, middle class or rich family?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I would say working class.
>> Working class.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Farm laborers actually.
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>> Okay. Farm laborers, okay. Did you go to high school that was public or private?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was public.
>> And what high school was it?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was Duncan Polytechnic High School.
>> Where is that located?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Fresno, California.
>> Okay. What was the ethnic and demographics of your high school?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Predominately Asian American. I would say at least 75% Asian American.
>> What type?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: There's a pretty big [inaudible] demographic there and then also with the Lao Cambodian
ethnic group as well and then we had maybe like 20% or maybe 15% Hispanics.
>> Really, interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And like 5% maybe African American, White.
>> Interesting. So you didn't go to a Hispanic, a majority school?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I went in maybe middle school and in elementary was predominately for sure elementary but
then when I went to middle school I went to a Scandinavian Middle School it was predominately the Cambodian, Lao
demographic there.
>> You said Scandinavian?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Uh-huh, Scandinavian Middle School.
>> The country of Scandinavia?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No, no. It's a middle school.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It's right off I believe Shields and Chestnut.
>> Okay. Interesting. Okay. So, the next question is do many Lao go to college? Why or why not?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: From my family experience I had one, I had an aunt that finished her degree.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Here at Fresno State so that was pretty much the only role model I had growing up in regards
to that and then my sister she did her, she did Fresno City College for a couple of years, but she was trying to do more
of a tech program I guess you could say. So from my family background not too much.
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>> Okay. So you're the first in your family to go to college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Correct.
>> You're a trailblazer. Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Hoping to be at least.
>> Okay. You definitely are, you definitely are. So in general, why do Laos go to college? Or do they not go to college
in general for the, you know, for the community?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, for me I know that with the first generation being more like farm laborers and, you
know, more working class, they always pushed the second generation or their children to go to school. I know like my
parents really didn't care if I spoke our home language, our native language at home.
>> Oh, really?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: They were just like, you know, you're going to school to learn English, you know, that's why I
got pushed and that's why a lot of people get pushed in education because for them they believe that education was
going to be something that can help better our lives in the future.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: As far as people that don't go, I feel like some people lose their focus, they lose their drive.
Maybe it's something that doesn't come easy. Those are, you know, or drop out.
>> So there is a particular issue with males not just Southeast Asian males I guess all men of color. Why do you think a
lot of males of color particularly in our case Southeast Asian males, but all male of color, why are they having an issue
with graduating?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm not too sure. I remember going to college back in my day. It was sort of, it was a little
different. I feel like in my class it was more focused on, you know, going to parties, hanging out, you know, doing more
extracurricular activities. So I felt like with my class it was, there wasn't a focus and, you know, there's always the fun
times [inaudible].
>> In your high school, did they all go to college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No.
>> Oh, they did not.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Not everyone went to college.
>> Where did they go?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I know some of them just started working. Some of them with our school we had the regional
occupational program there.
>> What is that?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: ROP, it's [inaudible] unified. Duncan is one of the schools that have it. So with that it was
more career based.
>> Can you elaborate on that?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, so we had different sort of pathways I guess we could enroll in at the school. So, we
had the medical team, we had the business side of things and then we also had farmers as well. We had an agricultural
program too.
>> What was the medical team? What's the farmers, what's that? What are those things?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: With the medical they had, they had a CNA program there at the school. They also had
medical office. So we would transcribe medical forms and things like that.
>> Wow, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And then some people got into the farmer's more agricultural. So, they were part of FFA,
Future Farmers of America and then their focus was agriculture so we had an actual farm that they would go offsite and
kind of work on.
>> What was the goal of that one? You would be, because if you're coming from a farm background what do they teach
you more?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm not too sure about that one. I didn't personally enroll in that program, but I know they just
kind of expose you to more things in regards to certain I guess events that farmers would have in regards to like the big
one that they hold out there in [inaudible] I think it is.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So they kind of expose you to those type of events and, you know, get you connected to other
farmers as well. And then for medical for the medical office and medical, the CNA program, they pretty much had
hands-on experience.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The first part of the school was, you know, learning, learning what it is to be a CNA. The
second part of the semester or the second part of the year was actually going out and working in the field.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And pretty much we did internships during our high school year.
>> And then is the third one is? There's medical, farming and the third one was?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Business.
>> Business, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And they also had an IT one as well.
>> IT, okay. What was the business and what's the IT?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So with business the first part was office technology and then the second part of it was sales
and marketing.
>> Sales and marketing, okay. Was that retail?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, the business one and then IT was more computer networking or you can go into car
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maintenance I guess it was like.
>> Car maintenance and then what I am your memory did the Asians, do these all go to college or they don't go to
college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Some do.
>> Okay. Do these like lead to college or like CNA you don't have to go to college for CNA.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Right. So, I don't think, most of them, so our school is pretty much career prep type of thing.
So we have like a lot of interviews like mock interviews for the students. So a lot of them were just career prep, but
some people did pursue like BSNs after, you know, completing high school.
>> Interesting. Thank you so much. I didn't know this, they had this program. It's very unique to this place.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Great. Do a lot of students have strong relationships with administrators and faculty?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I felt like for me like in high school or in college?
>> College.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: College. I felt like my relationship with my professors I kind of felt like I was the only, I felt
like really the only Asian American.
>> Oh, really? What major were you?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Communications.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Predominately it was Caucasian and Hispanic and African American students I sat in class
with. It was kind of rare that I would see like another Asian American in the class.
>> Interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: But I felt like my connect with the professors were fine. I had a couple of go-to professors that
I really liked like Dr. Fowler and also Dr. Blair. So, they were good support for me during my time in college during
that degree.
>> Great. What was your favorite subject and what was your least favorite subject?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: My favorite subjects I feel that I can relate to is English surprisingly. Everyone thought that I
was a bad writer, but English was pretty much one of my strongest suit, you know, throughout my actual educational
career. And my least favorite would be math.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That's a contradiction. But I, I mean I'm good at it, but I just think the actual work that you
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have to put in when solving math problems is a little more tedious for me.
>> What makes a good professor and what makes a bad professor for you to graduate?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Having sort of an open door policy. I think that's the biggest thing. What professors is
allowing, you know, sort of people are going to walk into your office and talk to you about either a paper or some issues
they might be having. On the other side, it was sort of like I had an online professor during my degree and it was sort of,
you know, catch me when you can.
>> Oh.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Our schedule was kind of conflicting because I was working full time and going to school full
time so I was pretty much limited if I needed to meet with them I wanted to meet with him like when I was on campus,
but that didn't sometimes match with his schedule sometimes so .
>> Have you ever been mentored and what was the teacher expectations of you?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: As far as a mentorship, I don't think I really had that sort of experience during my time at
Fresno State. I didn't have anyone that I kind of connected to in regards to that because like I said you know I was
working full time and going to school full time so my focus was just sort of like passing class and getting my degree and
that was it.
>> What was your working full time what were you doing?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, I worked retail. So I worked at Roger [inaudible]. I actually stopped working with them
just this past January.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So I was with them for about 10 years. Yeah. So I was pretty committed to the company.
>> Wow, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The location that I worked with they closed last year and they had me work in another office
at Riverpark location, but yeah, that was pretty much my job and it's kind of hectic working retail period.
>> Were you, so you went to the regional occupation, were you, did this get you to that job or did one of these, was it
the medical, farm or business or IT did that get you to the retail job?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So I actually did business. So I did a little business and I did a little IT. So for the first
couple of years I did IT, industrial technology, and then I kind of just did a career switch I guess you could say. I kind of
thought long term in regards to what was going to be beneficial for me and kind of what I was going to enjoy doing, to
do in the future. So, I originally did office technology and so I learned more of the office skills, typing and things like
that, and then I went into marketing my senior year of high school. So I feel like it did prep me and it did help that my
sister actually used to work at Roger stores.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, kind of with my experience and then I actually worked at McDonalds during high school
and then customer service and then kind of worked out.
>> Interesting. What were the teacher expectations of your co-ethnic groups? I'm speaking of high school. What do they
think for the group of you said predominately Asians. What do you think they go into?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was hit or miss to be honest. I remember my senior year like pretty much like everyone was
signing up for school because they [inaudible] resource center and then they pretty much have everyone signed up for
Fresno City College.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Sort of just as a backup plan if for some reason we didn't get into the UCs or CSUs so that
was, I feel like that was a really good motivation for a lot, but then on the other side it felt like, you know, you really
don't think that I'm good enough to go to a university that was in the back of my head. And that's what I kind of heard
from one of my senior teachers actually was, you know, why do you want to go to FSU? Most people drop out the first
year anyway.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And that was kind of like well I'm not most people first of all and, you know, everyone is a
different case. So that was, for me that was kind of like I think it was sort of like she wanted it to be more of a reality
check for me that, you know, you possibly might fail. I understand but it was a little harsh. Yeah, so we did have
students that were in AP classes, and I felt like with the AP students they were more, you know, pushed to go to UCs
and CSUs. That's why everybody else around them was, you know, go to Fresno City College.
>> Okay. Do you remember any notable media depictions of your ethnic group on TV or at the movies or media or
books?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I was actually talking about it the other day, and I was like why, like I feel like with the Asian
population it's either we're like super smart and nerdy or we play the dumb character and like, you know, we're not the
main character or the side character or the, you know, supporting role or something like that, but I feel like one that kind
of breaks through in my head is kind of Jackie Chan.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Where he's kind of, he's been prevalent throughout the Asian throughout the decades and he, I
mean his predominately are action movies, you know, and there isn't really much movies that show Asians in I guess
dramatic roles or things like that.
>> Okay. Do you think that you had significant academic preparation for college? Did your high school prepare you
well enough for college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I don't, I think so. Yeah. I know that like from elementary school and going to middle school I
was in all gate [phonetic] classes in my 7th and 8th grade year . And then when I hit high school I was also in gate
classes until my sophomore year. And then when it came to AP classes that's when we started in junior and senior year.
I didn't, I don't want to give up my summer. I don't want to put in actual work, but I feel like with the teachers that I did
have they did push us academically, you know. I would submit a paper and I would get all these red edits, you know,
and I feel like that kind of pushed me to be a better writer and also math, I had a really great math geometry teacher that
always pushed me and always took the time to kind of like, you know, kind of like re-explain things if needed during
my time.
>> Great. So the second part of the interview is on barriers. Thinking back do you think that there's any barriers that you
experienced in your college success, graduation success such as structural, financial, social, cultural, gender, health,
taking care of jobs. Do you think that you had any barriers to graduation success?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, for sure. I definitely did. For sure with one thing with financial, you know, I felt like I
got a car my senior year of high school and I felt like I needed to work. So I felt like I didn't get to take the classes that I
wanted because I had to work because those classes were offered during my shifts at work.
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>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, I mean my work was flexible for the most part as much as it could be, but I think that was
one. Scheduling was another one and then cost. I remember during that time we were downsizing I think towards the
end of my college career we were downsizing on professors and people were getting laid off I think. So ->> -- what year was that?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That was 2012.
>> Okay, yes.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was 2011 or 2012 is when I kind of saw it. Only certain classes were offered certain
semesters and things like that. So that was a barrier for sure and with financial I, my parents lost our house I want to say
in 2009 because of the market and, you know, we weren't able to keep up with the bills and stuff like that. So, during
that time my sister and I, I was age 21 at the time, we purchased our first home together.
>> What?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So that's a big, it was another burden that I had it was more personal, but that was an
issue that I had and I felt that, you know, I'm going to have to do it because it's for my family, you know. So that was
something that I had to go through.
>> Oh, a barrier. So you had to support your family and buy them a house oh my goodness, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Plus your sister.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, so me and my sister we go find them a house. I was 21 and she was 23, 24.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: We purchased our first home together, and we still have it.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So it's working out.
>> Very impressive. You're a trailblazer in many ways. Most people don't buy a house at 21.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Okay, wow. Do you think that you had any other barriers such as if you were a different gender, do you think you'd
have different barriers? Or more barriers?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I feel like for me myself being an Asian American male that was definitely a barrier. I felt like
->> -- in what way?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I felt like I had to push myself a little bit more in comparison to the Caucasian students
because, you know, I felt with some students they grew up with English as their first language and communicate, being
a communication degree, you know, I felt like I always got of got looked at because I was the only Asian American in
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the room.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So I kind of felt like, you know, I kind of had to work harder in regards to how I portrayed
myself or how I communicated with others or when it comes to presentations how I interacted with that. So I didn't
really come out of my shell until like senior year of college.
>> Since you were the only Asian male did you feel any comfort or did you feel comfortable asking questions? Or were
you like silent in class?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: To be honest I was pretty quiet unless it was something that I felt like, you know, I really
wanted to ask then that's when I would ask, but if not I would kind of wait until the end of the class and like, hey, I've
got a question about this do you mind like if I follow up with it.
>> Interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That's kind of how I do a lot of things.
>> Okay. So, it seems like you did have a lot of, did you get financial aid?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I did, yeah.
>> Was that helpful?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was, yeah, [inaudible] college degree.
>> Okay. Great. Any other barriers that you can think of? I mean you had a lot of barriers. Buying a house, working full
time that's pretty incredible.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Interaction probably with some students. When it came to group projects, it was a little harder
because we did have, you know, we had student athletes in our class too and then we also had people that were in cheer
like scheduling was an issue when it comes to like group projects. And so that was a barrier too. And so maybe if
instead of doing groups by random, you know, have people submit like I don't know we do like Survey Monkey or
Doodle Poll where they do something where they can sort of submit their times of availability and connect groups that
way. That would be a good idea for professors.
>> Yeah, it's a good idea, yeah. Definitely. Did you, when you were at school, did you take mostly night classes because
you had to work around your full-time schedule right? Was it night and online classes or?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, in my career it was, yeah, it was pretty much online classes. I did one, maybe one class
was Tuesdays and Thursday, but I remember when I first started working and going to school. I was doing Tuesdays
and Thursdays but I was doing it all day where I would go from school from 12 to 10PM at night.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And so I just did it that way because it was easier for me.
>> Interesting. That's intense.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> What makes Fresno State a chilly environment towards you and what makes it a warm environment towards you?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think for me I guess not seeing someone I can really kind of connect to in regards to a
student mentor. I know we do dog days and stuff like that, but it was sort of like, all right, come here, come here, you
know, it wasn't like, all right, so I'm going to be with you, you know, the first couple of weeks of school if you need me
let me know, you know, need to talk to me. It wasn't like that. I think that was, it's intimidating for me at least because
the school that I went to, high school at least, it was 1,000 students.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So coming to school where, you know, there's the same amount of students here like a big
amount it was intimidating because I didn't know who to connect with or, you know, I didn't have that much guidance,
but I feel like sometimes with the professors I had some really good professors during my time here, and I felt like that
kind of helps ease the stress and I kept on telling myself, you know, I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to get my
college degree and, you know, so the professors helped out with the ease of that with the transition and them doing ice
breakers in class and stuff like that kind of helped.
>> Okay. Ice breakers. Okay. So, the last part of the interview is on success. So you are somewhat a very rare person
historically yet also here but also in Fresno. Why do you think you made it? What is it about your personality? Not your
family, not your friends or maybe your friends, but why did you make it when you know people that did not go to
college or dropped out. What is it about your personality traits that you made it?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm very, I'm a very driven and determined person. When I set my mind to it, I'm going to
push myself through it no matter what obstacles I came across or gone through I'm going to push myself. Just more
recently with my graduate degree I actually lost my mother.
>> Sorry.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So, I lost my mother in 2015, but you know, in my head I've always told myself like,
you know, she would have wanted to see you, you know, succeed and do what you need to do and it was right at the
beginning of my program and in my head I was like okay I want to take a leave of absence from school and kind of like
not do the program just wait until everything is done, you know, but I think I'm just driving myself and, you know, the
support of others definitely does help especially during that time. Yeah, I think it's just being driven.
>> Have you been like this since elementary? Like when did this drive to keep going happen? Like was it always or just
something that happened in grad school or undergrad? I mean what ->> Jason Sengsongkham: -- I think it's always been like that. I remember my parents telling me like stories of when I
was a kid and when I was like in kindergarten or first grade how I never asked them for help like with my homework.
>> Oh really.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And so like I would just kind of do things on my own and my parents had me on a schedule
where, you know, you go to school, come home and do your homework and then you can play. I always like needed that
structural guidance kind of helped me throughout high school, throughout college. So I think I've always been a driven
person. In middle school I didn't, for me it was a culture shock going to Scandinavian because the school that I came
from in elementary was predominately Hispanic and African American and so when I seen all of these Asians I was like
me as an Asian American I didn't fit in.
>> Oh. Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I wasn't really used to their norms and their culture and kind of what they did on a daily basis
because I was used to like different things growing up, but I remember in middle school I actually received an academic
excellence award from the city, from Fresno City from I believe [inaudible] in 7th and 8th grade.
>> Impressive.
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: And then when I went to middle school or high school I was in leadership. So that definitely
helped where I had that mentor and his name was Richard Harris and he was a really good mentor throughout my high
school career too, and he gave me some opportunities actually. I actually also got awarded from Fresno Rotary for like I
believe it's like employee of the month type of award. And I remember going to that award ceremony and everybody
was talking about how they wanted to be doctors, lawyers and, you know, things like that, but for me I was like, you
know, I want to help people like that was my biggest thing. No matter what I did I just wanted to help people and that's
always been my drive. And so like full 360 for me now where I'm working in a state house with victims of domestic
violence and actually helping them in a supervisor position.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So I think that's my constant drive for me.
>> You've always been a helping person. Wow. Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It's something that our parents instilled in us growing up like you know we've always got we
don't have anyone else, it's just us and we're going to help each other like through thick and thin.
>> Did the other community members help you or did you help other community members outside your family?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I felt like with me I felt like I touched a lot of lives in regards to helping my friends, my
closest friends, being there when needed, you know, and being a support to them. As far as community members, I
know my parents were pretty active in regards to like getting connected. They had a really big network when it came to
people.
>> Oh, really?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think it just all comes from like everyone being the first, you know ->> -- trailblazers, yes.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Refugees from Laos and, you know, coming over here to America on sponsorship and then
they just connected us to people if they needed someone that we can work with or if someone, if we needed a job for the
summer, they would connect us with someone for the summer.
>> That's a very good connection.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It definitely helped out in regards to instilling us in that and with my dad he said it's because
of hope. So because of hope he would help with the at risk I guess demographic, people who are involved in gangs or on
probation or parole. He would go there and coach or talk to them in regards to I don't know I guess how to better their
lives, but yeah, he did that especially with the Southeast Asian community, pretty much Laos demographic.
>> Interesting. So you have active parents. Okay. Great. So you kind of already answered the next your family. So now
I guess the bridges to success you told me about the ROP, but did you have any other bridges to your success such as we
have this whole [inaudible] where they're all talking about how because they're dancers they were able to avoid the
gangs. So do you, do you have other bridges to success? I know your personal like grit and hard work, but do you think
you had any cultural, educational, financial, structural health or gender kind of bridges? Not barriers but bridges to help
you?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: Culturally I feel like sometimes, so being part of the Asian American community I felt like it
was sort of, you know, I felt like we were always at a battle with one another, who is the more successful one especially
with the Lao I guess Lao demographic it's like, you know, I'm better than you and that's one of the things, but I felt like
when I came in as an Asian American working in a predominately Caucasian agency, I was like the token Asian guy.
>> Right. A minority.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm like a minority, yeah, and they saw me as that I felt like and they kind of put me in the
forefront when it came to API issues or API concerns they would try to connect them with me, you know, and I felt that
that was sort of a great starting point because right now with our agency we're working with a number of different
domestic violence assaulters.
>> What's your agency called?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The Marjaree Mason Center.
>> Marjaree and where are you located?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: We're on 1600 M Street in Downtown Fresno.
>> 1600 M Street. And what does your organization?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, it's for victims of domestic violence. So we assist them with legal counseling and
emergency counseling as well. We also assist with permit housing options with our facility as well.
>> Is it predominately Asian?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The working force or the demographic?
>> The demographic you work with.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Predominately I would have to say more Hispanic, African American. I feel like with the
Asian culture itself everyone keeps [inaudible], you know, it's something that the family will deal with or, you know,
something that the couple should talk about in their own bedroom. So I felt like, but more recently I feel like more
Asian Americans are coming out and talking about domestic violence and, you know, we just want to make sure that
they know that we're there to assist them when they need the help, but right now we're working with other domestic
violence shelters throughout California in regards to how we can better serve the Asian American community whether it
be, you know, more cultural awareness in regards to our stock and, you know, certain cultures have certain religious
traditions.
>> Such as?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: For instance we do have individual I believe she's [inaudible] so she does I believe her prayer
before and after she eats her lunch or dinner and then we had another one where she was celebrating Ramadan and so, of
course, we had to be more culturally aware about that because Ramadan they can't eat, you know, when the sun is up.
So we allowed this person to eat dinner after hours or between, you know, midnight and 4AM. But I think us being
more culturally aware and finding things to translate in regards time like our brochures and our resources. I know more
recently I feel like if we do work with the population it would be more than one population that we do see in our safe
house.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So we're working on transitioning with that right now too.
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>> So, last part is actually in terms of you're a graduate of Fresno State, right?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Uh-huh.
>> What, now this is the time what would you want Fresno State to help others to be successful like yourself? And it
could be programs, it could be smart classes, it could be co-ethnic professors, it could be ethnic clubs, it could be
workshops and what workshops would you want. What, what do we need to graduate out, to be successful like yourself?
What do we need?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I mean if we can do something as far as us, for me I don't believe like having co-ethnic
professors really matters. I felt like if the professor is great in what they do and how they saw in their education and how
they portray their education to the students I think that's actually the primary goal.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: But if, you know, if race is also included, I think that would be a plus. And then as far as more
ethnic clubs, I did attend a couple of like Lao students clubs, meetings, but I feel like with the club itself it didn't really
have a purpose.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And we were just kind of hanging out and talking and more of a social gathering for me. For
me to be a part of something, I want it to have a meaning, I want it to have a mission, I want it to have a purpose.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Whether it be a big mission or a big purpose or how can this club affect the community, you
know, and I felt like during my time it wasn't really taken seriously. It was more like okay so when are we going to plan
our next picnic or when are we going to plan our next barbecue. It just didn't make sense for me to kind of go to
something like that. So I think if they have a goal and have a mission I think that would be, you know, if they have a
community project for the year like, you know, what's a community project for the year? Like what are we going to do
this academic semester, academic year to show that, you know, we want to be a part of the community.
>> These are great tips. Thank you so much.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No problem.
>> I highly appreciate this.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, I'm actually working tomorrow too so we do have like sort of a, I don't know what
we're trying to call it but it's like Southeast Asian leader committee type of thing right now.
>> Great. Much needed.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So our first meeting we had a really great turnout, but the second meeting it kind of just
downsized, but I, you know, I'm just trying to remind them that we do need to have a purpose, we need to have a goal.
We need to run it as an operation.
>> Mission statement.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Right. Exactly.
>> Okay.
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: And as to what maybe we could do as far as workshops, maybe we can hold conferences and
maybe invite, you know, the Asian American community out to that. Maybe leaders and like leaders in the community.
>> We did do that and it was ->> Jason Sengsongkham: -- was it a good turnout?
>> No.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No, okay.
>> And we invited all the leaders. So all the leaders. What can we do?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Like maybe if we have like leaders actually speak maybe leaders from maybe different
professional backgrounds. Maybe that would be great.
>> So conferences with different leaders to speak.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, and maybe like having incentive maybe for the students like Asian American students
and they possibly have a role model.
>> Okay. What else? So we did have a conference, but it was, oh, did you hear about our Lao student conference for
little babies? The little kid ->> Jason Sengsongkham: -- I did not.
>> Oh, okay. So we had, they're going to have it every year so they're probably going to hit you up for a panelist, but by
Dr. Tempa [phonetic]. Have you heard of Dr. Tempa?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I have not.
>> She's the leader, well, one of the big leaders here but she's the organizer of that big event. It was I think over 100
little kids 6th, 7th, 8th grade, maybe even high school, but primarily 6th, 7th, 8th and they were pushing college.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Nice.
>> It was incredible. Very moving experience. Extremely moving. So everyone there pushing. I think Samara [phonetic]
was there.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay, most likely. She's everywhere.
>> They're going to have it every year and so I'm sure they're going to look for panelists because they need to push
college and, you know, it's having little kids, but of course, you know, we don't have one for the Cambodians yet, but
you know this is a great thing. You might consider going with a cousin or your sister-in-law next year. So, what about
classes? Was there any class that you needed or wanted? Did you take any Asian American classes?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I didn't.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I actually avoided it.
>> Oh, really? Tell me more.
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: For me like my, like I felt like I kind of grew up with the community already and understood
my cultural differences and grew up with Filipino friends and I also grew up with some other friends and I don't know
I've always been culturally open to other, you know, Asian American cultures so my interests were more like African
American studies.
>> Okay, yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: You know things like that.
>> Okay. So workshops, anything else? Other needs and wants more to get Southeast Asians and in particular males.
Would you, would it have made a difference had there been a conference on Southeast Asian males directed towards
you or no difference?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think, I mean I think it would help to know that there's someone like out there like me in
regards to race and that, you know, hearing their story would probably help and kind of hearing their experiences. For
me like seeing successful Asians I predominately see, you know, the Chinese, the Japanese and Korean population
successful positions. Like I really rarely hear that, you know, a doctor is, you know, Laos.
>> So would you want a successful Asian conference where you see different leaders speak?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think that would be helpful, and I think that would be a great networking tool.
>> Okay. To hear them speak, okay. We just hired a Lao professor actually.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Really?
>> Yeah. PhD UC San Diego from Bresnow [phonetic].
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Really?
>> Yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That's awesome.
>> You've got to meet her.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay.
>> Very impressive. Her book is going to be on Laos. Incredible. Just top 1%.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: What subject is she teaching?
>> Asian studies.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I should go back and get that class.
>> She knows a lot. She's like super smart. So, we're at the end, and this is actually just advice to the third, you're the
second generation but the third and fourth generation who, you know, who probably will struggle as well. Different
struggles for the first and second duration, but what advice can you give them to continue their college path to graduate
and to keep on going? And maybe things that you regret you wanted to redo. What advice would you give to the second
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and third, I'm sorry, third and fourth generation that are going to listen to this.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Sure. I would definitely say, you know, remember your drive. Stay determined in regards to
finishing something no matter what adversity you go through there's always a silver lining to it. With education it
definitely will open more doors for you. I felt if was applying for higher entry position jobs I wouldn't be taken seriously
without my college degree, without my master's degree. For instance, when I applied with Fresno County with just my
bachelor's degree, I didn't get a testing in regards to, you know, completing, but when I completed my master's degree I
was able to actually get a test date and take the test for staff analysis. So just remembering that, you know, with
education it'll open more doors and that it will help you in the long run. Working smarter versus working harder, but I'm
not definitely not going to take away those that work in labor. I respect them for that as well, but you know you can't sit
there complaining about not doing something if you're not putting the effort into it. So, just make sure you focus ->> -- keep your focus. Okay. Okay, great. Is there anything you wanted to add or I didn't ask you?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No.
>> All right, great. So I'm going to turn it off. Thank you so much.
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verbal permission to interview as well as spell your name.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay. So, I'm Jason Sengsongkham give you, Jenny Wang [phonetic], permission to record
our conversation today. My name is spelled, J-A-S-O-N. Last name S-E-N-G-S-O-N-G-K-H-A-M.
>> Can you spell your last name one more time?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, S-E-N-G-S-O-N-G-K-H-A-M as in Mary.
>> Okay, K what?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: H.
>> K-H.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: A-M.
>> A-M. Okay. Thank you. Great. All right so we'll go over the same questions. Okay. Thank you so much for being
interviewed for the Voices of the Successful Southeast Asians. I've gone over the protocol and you've given me
permission so thank you so much for coming. What is your gender?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Male.
>> What, don't tell me the date of your birth but just the year that you were born.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: 1989.
>> What is your ethnic group?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Asian American.
>> What is your undergraduate major?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Communications.
>> What is your generation in the States.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It would be first generation.
>> First generation, oh, okay. Where were you born?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Fresno, California.
>> Fresno. Okay. What is your mother and father's highest graduation?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: My mother she received her high school diploma and then my father he got an associate's
degree at Fresno City College.
>> Wow, okay. What is your family composition? Which means like how many brothers and sisters do you have, you
know, who did you grow up?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: For sure. We have 7 total in our family. I have 4 sisters, 2 brothers.
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>> Wow. Okay. What was your GPA?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: In college? Oh, my master's degree or my ->> -- whatever you want to say. It doesn't really matter.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: My graduate degree [inaudible].
>> Okay, excellent. Okay. I don't know why I included that question. I don't know why I did that. What's your degree
aspiration? Like what's your ultimate degree aspiration?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, I just finished my masters.
>> Oh, congratulations.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Thank you. I finished that in September. Right now I'm just trying to sort of kind of career
wise trying to look into what I'd like to do with that particular degree. I'm hoping to get into human resources.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: But if that doesn't work out, I'm hoping or maybe thinking about pursuing a doctoral degree.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: On down the line.
>> We just opened, there's a new EDD now at Fresno State online with Channel Islands.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Oh, nice.
>> Yeah. I can send that to you later if you want.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, I'd like that.
>> Yeah, okay. And you know if you work at Fresno State tuition is free or lower.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I've got to get a job here first.
>> Yeah, right.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: [inaudible].
>> [Inaudible] actually anything would make it so. Just to tell you.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay, great.
>> For your family background do you come from working class, middle class or rich family?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I would say working class.
>> Working class.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Farm laborers actually.
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>> Okay. Farm laborers, okay. Did you go to high school that was public or private?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was public.
>> And what high school was it?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was Duncan Polytechnic High School.
>> Where is that located?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Fresno, California.
>> Okay. What was the ethnic and demographics of your high school?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Predominately Asian American. I would say at least 75% Asian American.
>> What type?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: There's a pretty big [inaudible] demographic there and then also with the Lao Cambodian
ethnic group as well and then we had maybe like 20% or maybe 15% Hispanics.
>> Really, interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And like 5% maybe African American, White.
>> Interesting. So you didn't go to a Hispanic, a majority school?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I went in maybe middle school and in elementary was predominately for sure elementary but
then when I went to middle school I went to a Scandinavian Middle School it was predominately the Cambodian, Lao
demographic there.
>> You said Scandinavian?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Uh-huh, Scandinavian Middle School.
>> The country of Scandinavia?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No, no. It's a middle school.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It's right off I believe Shields and Chestnut.
>> Okay. Interesting. Okay. So, the next question is do many Lao go to college? Why or why not?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: From my family experience I had one, I had an aunt that finished her degree.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Here at Fresno State so that was pretty much the only role model I had growing up in regards
to that and then my sister she did her, she did Fresno City College for a couple of years, but she was trying to do more
of a tech program I guess you could say. So from my family background not too much.
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>> Okay. So you're the first in your family to go to college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Correct.
>> You're a trailblazer. Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Hoping to be at least.
>> Okay. You definitely are, you definitely are. So in general, why do Laos go to college? Or do they not go to college
in general for the, you know, for the community?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, for me I know that with the first generation being more like farm laborers and, you
know, more working class, they always pushed the second generation or their children to go to school. I know like my
parents really didn't care if I spoke our home language, our native language at home.
>> Oh, really?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: They were just like, you know, you're going to school to learn English, you know, that's why I
got pushed and that's why a lot of people get pushed in education because for them they believe that education was
going to be something that can help better our lives in the future.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: As far as people that don't go, I feel like some people lose their focus, they lose their drive.
Maybe it's something that doesn't come easy. Those are, you know, or drop out.
>> So there is a particular issue with males not just Southeast Asian males I guess all men of color. Why do you think a
lot of males of color particularly in our case Southeast Asian males, but all male of color, why are they having an issue
with graduating?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm not too sure. I remember going to college back in my day. It was sort of, it was a little
different. I feel like in my class it was more focused on, you know, going to parties, hanging out, you know, doing more
extracurricular activities. So I felt like with my class it was, there wasn't a focus and, you know, there's always the fun
times [inaudible].
>> In your high school, did they all go to college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No.
>> Oh, they did not.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Not everyone went to college.
>> Where did they go?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I know some of them just started working. Some of them with our school we had the regional
occupational program there.
>> What is that?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: ROP, it's [inaudible] unified. Duncan is one of the schools that have it. So with that it was
more career based.
>> Can you elaborate on that?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, so we had different sort of pathways I guess we could enroll in at the school. So, we
had the medical team, we had the business side of things and then we also had farmers as well. We had an agricultural
program too.
>> What was the medical team? What's the farmers, what's that? What are those things?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: With the medical they had, they had a CNA program there at the school. They also had
medical office. So we would transcribe medical forms and things like that.
>> Wow, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And then some people got into the farmer's more agricultural. So, they were part of FFA,
Future Farmers of America and then their focus was agriculture so we had an actual farm that they would go offsite and
kind of work on.
>> What was the goal of that one? You would be, because if you're coming from a farm background what do they teach
you more?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm not too sure about that one. I didn't personally enroll in that program, but I know they just
kind of expose you to more things in regards to certain I guess events that farmers would have in regards to like the big
one that they hold out there in [inaudible] I think it is.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So they kind of expose you to those type of events and, you know, get you connected to other
farmers as well. And then for medical for the medical office and medical, the CNA program, they pretty much had
hands-on experience.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The first part of the school was, you know, learning, learning what it is to be a CNA. The
second part of the semester or the second part of the year was actually going out and working in the field.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And pretty much we did internships during our high school year.
>> And then is the third one is? There's medical, farming and the third one was?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Business.
>> Business, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And they also had an IT one as well.
>> IT, okay. What was the business and what's the IT?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So with business the first part was office technology and then the second part of it was sales
and marketing.
>> Sales and marketing, okay. Was that retail?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, the business one and then IT was more computer networking or you can go into car
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maintenance I guess it was like.
>> Car maintenance and then what I am your memory did the Asians, do these all go to college or they don't go to
college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Some do.
>> Okay. Do these like lead to college or like CNA you don't have to go to college for CNA.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Right. So, I don't think, most of them, so our school is pretty much career prep type of thing.
So we have like a lot of interviews like mock interviews for the students. So a lot of them were just career prep, but
some people did pursue like BSNs after, you know, completing high school.
>> Interesting. Thank you so much. I didn't know this, they had this program. It's very unique to this place.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Great. Do a lot of students have strong relationships with administrators and faculty?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I felt like for me like in high school or in college?
>> College.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: College. I felt like my relationship with my professors I kind of felt like I was the only, I felt
like really the only Asian American.
>> Oh, really? What major were you?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Communications.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Predominately it was Caucasian and Hispanic and African American students I sat in class
with. It was kind of rare that I would see like another Asian American in the class.
>> Interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: But I felt like my connect with the professors were fine. I had a couple of go-to professors that
I really liked like Dr. Fowler and also Dr. Blair. So, they were good support for me during my time in college during
that degree.
>> Great. What was your favorite subject and what was your least favorite subject?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: My favorite subjects I feel that I can relate to is English surprisingly. Everyone thought that I
was a bad writer, but English was pretty much one of my strongest suit, you know, throughout my actual educational
career. And my least favorite would be math.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That's a contradiction. But I, I mean I'm good at it, but I just think the actual work that you
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have to put in when solving math problems is a little more tedious for me.
>> What makes a good professor and what makes a bad professor for you to graduate?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Having sort of an open door policy. I think that's the biggest thing. What professors is
allowing, you know, sort of people are going to walk into your office and talk to you about either a paper or some issues
they might be having. On the other side, it was sort of like I had an online professor during my degree and it was sort of,
you know, catch me when you can.
>> Oh.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Our schedule was kind of conflicting because I was working full time and going to school full
time so I was pretty much limited if I needed to meet with them I wanted to meet with him like when I was on campus,
but that didn't sometimes match with his schedule sometimes so .
>> Have you ever been mentored and what was the teacher expectations of you?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: As far as a mentorship, I don't think I really had that sort of experience during my time at
Fresno State. I didn't have anyone that I kind of connected to in regards to that because like I said you know I was
working full time and going to school full time so my focus was just sort of like passing class and getting my degree and
that was it.
>> What was your working full time what were you doing?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, I worked retail. So I worked at Roger [inaudible]. I actually stopped working with them
just this past January.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So I was with them for about 10 years. Yeah. So I was pretty committed to the company.
>> Wow, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The location that I worked with they closed last year and they had me work in another office
at Riverpark location, but yeah, that was pretty much my job and it's kind of hectic working retail period.
>> Were you, so you went to the regional occupation, were you, did this get you to that job or did one of these, was it
the medical, farm or business or IT did that get you to the retail job?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So I actually did business. So I did a little business and I did a little IT. So for the first
couple of years I did IT, industrial technology, and then I kind of just did a career switch I guess you could say. I kind of
thought long term in regards to what was going to be beneficial for me and kind of what I was going to enjoy doing, to
do in the future. So, I originally did office technology and so I learned more of the office skills, typing and things like
that, and then I went into marketing my senior year of high school. So I feel like it did prep me and it did help that my
sister actually used to work at Roger stores.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, kind of with my experience and then I actually worked at McDonalds during high school
and then customer service and then kind of worked out.
>> Interesting. What were the teacher expectations of your co-ethnic groups? I'm speaking of high school. What do they
think for the group of you said predominately Asians. What do you think they go into?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was hit or miss to be honest. I remember my senior year like pretty much like everyone was
signing up for school because they [inaudible] resource center and then they pretty much have everyone signed up for
Fresno City College.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Sort of just as a backup plan if for some reason we didn't get into the UCs or CSUs so that
was, I feel like that was a really good motivation for a lot, but then on the other side it felt like, you know, you really
don't think that I'm good enough to go to a university that was in the back of my head. And that's what I kind of heard
from one of my senior teachers actually was, you know, why do you want to go to FSU? Most people drop out the first
year anyway.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And that was kind of like well I'm not most people first of all and, you know, everyone is a
different case. So that was, for me that was kind of like I think it was sort of like she wanted it to be more of a reality
check for me that, you know, you possibly might fail. I understand but it was a little harsh. Yeah, so we did have
students that were in AP classes, and I felt like with the AP students they were more, you know, pushed to go to UCs
and CSUs. That's why everybody else around them was, you know, go to Fresno City College.
>> Okay. Do you remember any notable media depictions of your ethnic group on TV or at the movies or media or
books?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I was actually talking about it the other day, and I was like why, like I feel like with the Asian
population it's either we're like super smart and nerdy or we play the dumb character and like, you know, we're not the
main character or the side character or the, you know, supporting role or something like that, but I feel like one that kind
of breaks through in my head is kind of Jackie Chan.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Where he's kind of, he's been prevalent throughout the Asian throughout the decades and he, I
mean his predominately are action movies, you know, and there isn't really much movies that show Asians in I guess
dramatic roles or things like that.
>> Okay. Do you think that you had significant academic preparation for college? Did your high school prepare you
well enough for college?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I don't, I think so. Yeah. I know that like from elementary school and going to middle school I
was in all gate [phonetic] classes in my 7th and 8th grade year . And then when I hit high school I was also in gate
classes until my sophomore year. And then when it came to AP classes that's when we started in junior and senior year.
I didn't, I don't want to give up my summer. I don't want to put in actual work, but I feel like with the teachers that I did
have they did push us academically, you know. I would submit a paper and I would get all these red edits, you know,
and I feel like that kind of pushed me to be a better writer and also math, I had a really great math geometry teacher that
always pushed me and always took the time to kind of like, you know, kind of like re-explain things if needed during
my time.
>> Great. So the second part of the interview is on barriers. Thinking back do you think that there's any barriers that you
experienced in your college success, graduation success such as structural, financial, social, cultural, gender, health,
taking care of jobs. Do you think that you had any barriers to graduation success?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, for sure. I definitely did. For sure with one thing with financial, you know, I felt like I
got a car my senior year of high school and I felt like I needed to work. So I felt like I didn't get to take the classes that I
wanted because I had to work because those classes were offered during my shifts at work.
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>> Oh, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, I mean my work was flexible for the most part as much as it could be, but I think that was
one. Scheduling was another one and then cost. I remember during that time we were downsizing I think towards the
end of my college career we were downsizing on professors and people were getting laid off I think. So ->> -- what year was that?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That was 2012.
>> Okay, yes.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was 2011 or 2012 is when I kind of saw it. Only certain classes were offered certain
semesters and things like that. So that was a barrier for sure and with financial I, my parents lost our house I want to say
in 2009 because of the market and, you know, we weren't able to keep up with the bills and stuff like that. So, during
that time my sister and I, I was age 21 at the time, we purchased our first home together.
>> What?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So that's a big, it was another burden that I had it was more personal, but that was an
issue that I had and I felt that, you know, I'm going to have to do it because it's for my family, you know. So that was
something that I had to go through.
>> Oh, a barrier. So you had to support your family and buy them a house oh my goodness, okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Plus your sister.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, so me and my sister we go find them a house. I was 21 and she was 23, 24.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: We purchased our first home together, and we still have it.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So it's working out.
>> Very impressive. You're a trailblazer in many ways. Most people don't buy a house at 21.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Okay, wow. Do you think that you had any other barriers such as if you were a different gender, do you think you'd
have different barriers? Or more barriers?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I feel like for me myself being an Asian American male that was definitely a barrier. I felt like
->> -- in what way?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I felt like I had to push myself a little bit more in comparison to the Caucasian students
because, you know, I felt with some students they grew up with English as their first language and communicate, being
a communication degree, you know, I felt like I always got of got looked at because I was the only Asian American in
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the room.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So I kind of felt like, you know, I kind of had to work harder in regards to how I portrayed
myself or how I communicated with others or when it comes to presentations how I interacted with that. So I didn't
really come out of my shell until like senior year of college.
>> Since you were the only Asian male did you feel any comfort or did you feel comfortable asking questions? Or were
you like silent in class?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: To be honest I was pretty quiet unless it was something that I felt like, you know, I really
wanted to ask then that's when I would ask, but if not I would kind of wait until the end of the class and like, hey, I've
got a question about this do you mind like if I follow up with it.
>> Interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That's kind of how I do a lot of things.
>> Okay. So, it seems like you did have a lot of, did you get financial aid?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I did, yeah.
>> Was that helpful?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It was, yeah, [inaudible] college degree.
>> Okay. Great. Any other barriers that you can think of? I mean you had a lot of barriers. Buying a house, working full
time that's pretty incredible.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Interaction probably with some students. When it came to group projects, it was a little harder
because we did have, you know, we had student athletes in our class too and then we also had people that were in cheer
like scheduling was an issue when it comes to like group projects. And so that was a barrier too. And so maybe if
instead of doing groups by random, you know, have people submit like I don't know we do like Survey Monkey or
Doodle Poll where they do something where they can sort of submit their times of availability and connect groups that
way. That would be a good idea for professors.
>> Yeah, it's a good idea, yeah. Definitely. Did you, when you were at school, did you take mostly night classes because
you had to work around your full-time schedule right? Was it night and online classes or?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, in my career it was, yeah, it was pretty much online classes. I did one, maybe one class
was Tuesdays and Thursday, but I remember when I first started working and going to school. I was doing Tuesdays
and Thursdays but I was doing it all day where I would go from school from 12 to 10PM at night.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And so I just did it that way because it was easier for me.
>> Interesting. That's intense.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> What makes Fresno State a chilly environment towards you and what makes it a warm environment towards you?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think for me I guess not seeing someone I can really kind of connect to in regards to a
student mentor. I know we do dog days and stuff like that, but it was sort of like, all right, come here, come here, you
know, it wasn't like, all right, so I'm going to be with you, you know, the first couple of weeks of school if you need me
let me know, you know, need to talk to me. It wasn't like that. I think that was, it's intimidating for me at least because
the school that I went to, high school at least, it was 1,000 students.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So coming to school where, you know, there's the same amount of students here like a big
amount it was intimidating because I didn't know who to connect with or, you know, I didn't have that much guidance,
but I feel like sometimes with the professors I had some really good professors during my time here, and I felt like that
kind of helps ease the stress and I kept on telling myself, you know, I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to get my
college degree and, you know, so the professors helped out with the ease of that with the transition and them doing ice
breakers in class and stuff like that kind of helped.
>> Okay. Ice breakers. Okay. So, the last part of the interview is on success. So you are somewhat a very rare person
historically yet also here but also in Fresno. Why do you think you made it? What is it about your personality? Not your
family, not your friends or maybe your friends, but why did you make it when you know people that did not go to
college or dropped out. What is it about your personality traits that you made it?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm very, I'm a very driven and determined person. When I set my mind to it, I'm going to
push myself through it no matter what obstacles I came across or gone through I'm going to push myself. Just more
recently with my graduate degree I actually lost my mother.
>> Sorry.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So, I lost my mother in 2015, but you know, in my head I've always told myself like,
you know, she would have wanted to see you, you know, succeed and do what you need to do and it was right at the
beginning of my program and in my head I was like okay I want to take a leave of absence from school and kind of like
not do the program just wait until everything is done, you know, but I think I'm just driving myself and, you know, the
support of others definitely does help especially during that time. Yeah, I think it's just being driven.
>> Have you been like this since elementary? Like when did this drive to keep going happen? Like was it always or just
something that happened in grad school or undergrad? I mean what ->> Jason Sengsongkham: -- I think it's always been like that. I remember my parents telling me like stories of when I
was a kid and when I was like in kindergarten or first grade how I never asked them for help like with my homework.
>> Oh really.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And so like I would just kind of do things on my own and my parents had me on a schedule
where, you know, you go to school, come home and do your homework and then you can play. I always like needed that
structural guidance kind of helped me throughout high school, throughout college. So I think I've always been a driven
person. In middle school I didn't, for me it was a culture shock going to Scandinavian because the school that I came
from in elementary was predominately Hispanic and African American and so when I seen all of these Asians I was like
me as an Asian American I didn't fit in.
>> Oh. Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I wasn't really used to their norms and their culture and kind of what they did on a daily basis
because I was used to like different things growing up, but I remember in middle school I actually received an academic
excellence award from the city, from Fresno City from I believe [inaudible] in 7th and 8th grade.
>> Impressive.
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: And then when I went to middle school or high school I was in leadership. So that definitely
helped where I had that mentor and his name was Richard Harris and he was a really good mentor throughout my high
school career too, and he gave me some opportunities actually. I actually also got awarded from Fresno Rotary for like I
believe it's like employee of the month type of award. And I remember going to that award ceremony and everybody
was talking about how they wanted to be doctors, lawyers and, you know, things like that, but for me I was like, you
know, I want to help people like that was my biggest thing. No matter what I did I just wanted to help people and that's
always been my drive. And so like full 360 for me now where I'm working in a state house with victims of domestic
violence and actually helping them in a supervisor position.
>> Wow.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So I think that's my constant drive for me.
>> You've always been a helping person. Wow. Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It's something that our parents instilled in us growing up like you know we've always got we
don't have anyone else, it's just us and we're going to help each other like through thick and thin.
>> Did the other community members help you or did you help other community members outside your family?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I felt like with me I felt like I touched a lot of lives in regards to helping my friends, my
closest friends, being there when needed, you know, and being a support to them. As far as community members, I
know my parents were pretty active in regards to like getting connected. They had a really big network when it came to
people.
>> Oh, really?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah.
>> Interesting.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think it just all comes from like everyone being the first, you know ->> -- trailblazers, yes.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Refugees from Laos and, you know, coming over here to America on sponsorship and then
they just connected us to people if they needed someone that we can work with or if someone, if we needed a job for the
summer, they would connect us with someone for the summer.
>> That's a very good connection.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: It definitely helped out in regards to instilling us in that and with my dad he said it's because
of hope. So because of hope he would help with the at risk I guess demographic, people who are involved in gangs or on
probation or parole. He would go there and coach or talk to them in regards to I don't know I guess how to better their
lives, but yeah, he did that especially with the Southeast Asian community, pretty much Laos demographic.
>> Interesting. So you have active parents. Okay. Great. So you kind of already answered the next your family. So now
I guess the bridges to success you told me about the ROP, but did you have any other bridges to your success such as we
have this whole [inaudible] where they're all talking about how because they're dancers they were able to avoid the
gangs. So do you, do you have other bridges to success? I know your personal like grit and hard work, but do you think
you had any cultural, educational, financial, structural health or gender kind of bridges? Not barriers but bridges to help
you?
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: Culturally I feel like sometimes, so being part of the Asian American community I felt like it
was sort of, you know, I felt like we were always at a battle with one another, who is the more successful one especially
with the Lao I guess Lao demographic it's like, you know, I'm better than you and that's one of the things, but I felt like
when I came in as an Asian American working in a predominately Caucasian agency, I was like the token Asian guy.
>> Right. A minority.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I'm like a minority, yeah, and they saw me as that I felt like and they kind of put me in the
forefront when it came to API issues or API concerns they would try to connect them with me, you know, and I felt that
that was sort of a great starting point because right now with our agency we're working with a number of different
domestic violence assaulters.
>> What's your agency called?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The Marjaree Mason Center.
>> Marjaree and where are you located?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: We're on 1600 M Street in Downtown Fresno.
>> 1600 M Street. And what does your organization?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So, it's for victims of domestic violence. So we assist them with legal counseling and
emergency counseling as well. We also assist with permit housing options with our facility as well.
>> Is it predominately Asian?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: The working force or the demographic?
>> The demographic you work with.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Predominately I would have to say more Hispanic, African American. I feel like with the
Asian culture itself everyone keeps [inaudible], you know, it's something that the family will deal with or, you know,
something that the couple should talk about in their own bedroom. So I felt like, but more recently I feel like more
Asian Americans are coming out and talking about domestic violence and, you know, we just want to make sure that
they know that we're there to assist them when they need the help, but right now we're working with other domestic
violence shelters throughout California in regards to how we can better serve the Asian American community whether it
be, you know, more cultural awareness in regards to our stock and, you know, certain cultures have certain religious
traditions.
>> Such as?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: For instance we do have individual I believe she's [inaudible] so she does I believe her prayer
before and after she eats her lunch or dinner and then we had another one where she was celebrating Ramadan and so, of
course, we had to be more culturally aware about that because Ramadan they can't eat, you know, when the sun is up.
So we allowed this person to eat dinner after hours or between, you know, midnight and 4AM. But I think us being
more culturally aware and finding things to translate in regards time like our brochures and our resources. I know more
recently I feel like if we do work with the population it would be more than one population that we do see in our safe
house.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: So we're working on transitioning with that right now too.
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>> So, last part is actually in terms of you're a graduate of Fresno State, right?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Uh-huh.
>> What, now this is the time what would you want Fresno State to help others to be successful like yourself? And it
could be programs, it could be smart classes, it could be co-ethnic professors, it could be ethnic clubs, it could be
workshops and what workshops would you want. What, what do we need to graduate out, to be successful like yourself?
What do we need?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I mean if we can do something as far as us, for me I don't believe like having co-ethnic
professors really matters. I felt like if the professor is great in what they do and how they saw in their education and how
they portray their education to the students I think that's actually the primary goal.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: But if, you know, if race is also included, I think that would be a plus. And then as far as more
ethnic clubs, I did attend a couple of like Lao students clubs, meetings, but I feel like with the club itself it didn't really
have a purpose.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: And we were just kind of hanging out and talking and more of a social gathering for me. For
me to be a part of something, I want it to have a meaning, I want it to have a mission, I want it to have a purpose.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Whether it be a big mission or a big purpose or how can this club affect the community, you
know, and I felt like during my time it wasn't really taken seriously. It was more like okay so when are we going to plan
our next picnic or when are we going to plan our next barbecue. It just didn't make sense for me to kind of go to
something like that. So I think if they have a goal and have a mission I think that would be, you know, if they have a
community project for the year like, you know, what's a community project for the year? Like what are we going to do
this academic semester, academic year to show that, you know, we want to be a part of the community.
>> These are great tips. Thank you so much.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No problem.
>> I highly appreciate this.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, I'm actually working tomorrow too so we do have like sort of a, I don't know what
we're trying to call it but it's like Southeast Asian leader committee type of thing right now.
>> Great. Much needed.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah. So our first meeting we had a really great turnout, but the second meeting it kind of just
downsized, but I, you know, I'm just trying to remind them that we do need to have a purpose, we need to have a goal.
We need to run it as an operation.
>> Mission statement.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Right. Exactly.
>> Okay.
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: And as to what maybe we could do as far as workshops, maybe we can hold conferences and
maybe invite, you know, the Asian American community out to that. Maybe leaders and like leaders in the community.
>> We did do that and it was ->> Jason Sengsongkham: -- was it a good turnout?
>> No.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No, okay.
>> And we invited all the leaders. So all the leaders. What can we do?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Like maybe if we have like leaders actually speak maybe leaders from maybe different
professional backgrounds. Maybe that would be great.
>> So conferences with different leaders to speak.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Yeah, and maybe like having incentive maybe for the students like Asian American students
and they possibly have a role model.
>> Okay. What else? So we did have a conference, but it was, oh, did you hear about our Lao student conference for
little babies? The little kid ->> Jason Sengsongkham: -- I did not.
>> Oh, okay. So we had, they're going to have it every year so they're probably going to hit you up for a panelist, but by
Dr. Tempa [phonetic]. Have you heard of Dr. Tempa?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I have not.
>> She's the leader, well, one of the big leaders here but she's the organizer of that big event. It was I think over 100
little kids 6th, 7th, 8th grade, maybe even high school, but primarily 6th, 7th, 8th and they were pushing college.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Nice.
>> It was incredible. Very moving experience. Extremely moving. So everyone there pushing. I think Samara [phonetic]
was there.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay, most likely. She's everywhere.
>> They're going to have it every year and so I'm sure they're going to look for panelists because they need to push
college and, you know, it's having little kids, but of course, you know, we don't have one for the Cambodians yet, but
you know this is a great thing. You might consider going with a cousin or your sister-in-law next year. So, what about
classes? Was there any class that you needed or wanted? Did you take any Asian American classes?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I didn't.
>> Okay.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I actually avoided it.
>> Oh, really? Tell me more.
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>> Jason Sengsongkham: For me like my, like I felt like I kind of grew up with the community already and understood
my cultural differences and grew up with Filipino friends and I also grew up with some other friends and I don't know
I've always been culturally open to other, you know, Asian American cultures so my interests were more like African
American studies.
>> Okay, yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: You know things like that.
>> Okay. So workshops, anything else? Other needs and wants more to get Southeast Asians and in particular males.
Would you, would it have made a difference had there been a conference on Southeast Asian males directed towards
you or no difference?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think, I mean I think it would help to know that there's someone like out there like me in
regards to race and that, you know, hearing their story would probably help and kind of hearing their experiences. For
me like seeing successful Asians I predominately see, you know, the Chinese, the Japanese and Korean population
successful positions. Like I really rarely hear that, you know, a doctor is, you know, Laos.
>> So would you want a successful Asian conference where you see different leaders speak?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I think that would be helpful, and I think that would be a great networking tool.
>> Okay. To hear them speak, okay. We just hired a Lao professor actually.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Really?
>> Yeah. PhD UC San Diego from Bresnow [phonetic].
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Really?
>> Yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: That's awesome.
>> You've got to meet her.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay.
>> Very impressive. Her book is going to be on Laos. Incredible. Just top 1%.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: What subject is she teaching?
>> Asian studies.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: I should go back and get that class.
>> She knows a lot. She's like super smart. So, we're at the end, and this is actually just advice to the third, you're the
second generation but the third and fourth generation who, you know, who probably will struggle as well. Different
struggles for the first and second duration, but what advice can you give them to continue their college path to graduate
and to keep on going? And maybe things that you regret you wanted to redo. What advice would you give to the second
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and third, I'm sorry, third and fourth generation that are going to listen to this.
>> Jason Sengsongkham: Sure. I would definitely say, you know, remember your drive. Stay determined in regards to
finishing something no matter what adversity you go through there's always a silver lining to it. With education it
definitely will open more doors for you. I felt if was applying for higher entry position jobs I wouldn't be taken seriously
without my college degree, without my master's degree. For instance, when I applied with Fresno County with just my
bachelor's degree, I didn't get a testing in regards to, you know, completing, but when I completed my master's degree I
was able to actually get a test date and take the test for staff analysis. So just remembering that, you know, with
education it'll open more doors and that it will help you in the long run. Working smarter versus working harder, but I'm
not definitely not going to take away those that work in labor. I respect them for that as well, but you know you can't sit
there complaining about not doing something if you're not putting the effort into it. So, just make sure you focus ->> -- keep your focus. Okay. Okay, great. Is there anything you wanted to add or I didn't ask you?
>> Jason Sengsongkham: No.
>> All right, great. So I'm going to turn it off. Thank you so much.
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