by: Kerry Lippold Jr
There are many people among our students, faculty and staff at Parkland that make the community a positive environment for all. Working 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, the Parkland College Police Department, also known as Public Safety, is no exception. From enforcing rules, laws and regulations, to helping when you lock your keys in your car, Public Safety plays a key role in ensuring safety and well-being on campus.
There are so many remarkable people in Public Safety committed to serving and giving back to the Parkland College community. One member the Prospectus would like you to meet is our new College Relations Officer, Somphon Sengsouvanh Penland. Officer Sam, as she likes to be called, has so much to offer the community and is excited about her first semester in this new role.
Penland was born in Urbana, IL and raised in the Champaign-Urbana area. While her mother and father were of Vietnamese and Thai culture respectively, she grew up in a Lao community, practiced Lao customs and even speaks Lao. After graduating from Centennial High School in 1999, Penland attended Parkland College and had positive things to say about her experience. “It was an inviting, supportive and encouraging environment,” Penland says. During her time at Parkland College, she worked as a dispatcher which was followed by a job as a non-sworn Security Patrol Officer. This experience, “…gave me a better understanding of what it was like to serve the community and reinforced my desire to join law enforcement,” she said. Penland then continued her education by transferring to Western Illinois University, where she pursued a degree in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration with a minor in Spanish.
Upon graduating from Western Illinois University, Penland attended and graduated from the Illinois Corps Academy, completed an internship at the Joliet Police Department and joined the police force in 2005. She expressed that her career had been immensely rewarding, but also came with many challenges. One of her biggest challenges came shortly after joining the police force when she made the tough decision to leave her career and focus on her family. Expressing her greatest admiration for stay-at-home parents, Penland explained that, “I dedicated my love, time and effort into being the best mom I could be … it has been the most challenging but rewarding job of my life.”
It was during this time that she was able to enjoy her favorite hobbies even more. “It goes without saying that I enjoy family time, whether it’s reading or singing with my kids or playing hide and seek. Other activities I enjoy are volunteering, running, cycling, playing basketball, shooting pool, bowling, dancing, cooking, eating, watching stand-up comedy and being outdoors,” Penland said.
“It was there I had an epiphany about returning to Parkland. Why not return to the place where I began?”
After being away from police work for four years, she finally to work at the Police Training Institute. When asked about what brought her back to Parkland College, she explained, “While working with [PTI] recruits again, I felt something stirring in my heart. I really wanted to return to the force but in an influential way. It was there I had an epiphany about returning to Parkland. Why not return to the place where I began?” Penland returned to Parkland College as a Police Officer in October of 2018 and had the opportunity to become the College Relations Officer this year.
Penland’s favorite thing about her job is engaging and serving the students while being able to leave a potentially life-saving impact by doing anything from acting as a first responder to something as simple as asking, “How are you?” If you see her in between classes, she would love to meet you and potentially give you some advice if you are lucky enough. For the meantime, she asked to share her favorite quote: “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” -Audre Lorde.
The Prospectus team wishes Penland well in her new role at Parkland College and hope it aides in her journey to impact those in our community.
