Impact 2021

John Kazel

Featured Alumni

Finding the Bigger Picture

Throughout his impressive career in the field of medical imaging, John Kazel can’t ignore the fact that doors continuously opened for him. As Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento’s Operations Director of Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Kazel began his career in the medical industry as a patient transporter in the radiology department. The environment sparked Kazel’s desire to learn more about the field, resulting in him applying to a highly competitive radiologic technology program. He was selected as their third alternate, later leading to his acceptance and eventual completion after much hard work and academic rigor. Doors opened once again and eventually he landed a coveted graveyard shift doing what he loved.

As a gifted communicator and “big” picture kind of guy, Kazel gained more leadership and professional experience and quickly moved up the ranks. “I’ll be the first to say that I was fortunate to be at the director level without a graduate degree let alone an undergraduate degree,” Kazel said. “As a director, completing my degrees was something I knew I needed to do to further my career.”

Kazel applied to a variety of online programs but had trouble finding one that would stick. His relational nature and learning style were better suited to an in-person learning environment. As a Rocklin resident, Kazel drove by the Jessup campus frequently but didn’t think about exploring what the growing university had to offer until he started to gather information online and ask around. “Most of the people I asked about Jessup had great things to say, so I decided to check it out,” Kazel said.

Kazel enrolled in Jessup’s Adult Degree Completion program, an accelerated cohort-based program allowing students to attend courses one night a week. Within 18 months, he earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership. “Once I got started in the program, I knew I would be in it for the long haul not just earning my bachelor of arts but my master’s degree as well,” he said. 

By the time commencement for his undergraduate degree came around, Kazel was already enrolled in Jessup’s master’s in leadership program with a concentration in sports management. “I’ve always had a love for sports and strive to apply many of the same qualities sports often display: strategy, good communication, efficiency, teamwork and perseverance. In so many ways, healthcare is a team sport that works to develop people, so Jessup’s program appealed to me,” Kazel said.

Attending Jessup also strengthened Kazel’s spiritual side. Raised in a Jewish family, Kazel became a Catholic later in life and found he had a lot of questions about his faith. At Jessup, he had professors who provided a safe space for him to learn as they supported his purpose and drive to grow his faith. “Jessup helped me refocus my life and think on a much deeper level,” Kazel said. “It’s not just me driving my life, it’s a partnership with God.”

 One specific tactic Kazel learned while in the undergraduate Adult Degree Completion program is the process of Lectio Divina, a prayerful way of becoming personally immersed in scripture. “This process helps me to be more in the moment and realize that whatever challenge I face, it is not solely up to me to solve. It helps to bring some levity to the way I think, bring in information and process it. As a leader, you need to think bigger than yourself and faith-based learning at Jessup has helped me to see there is a bigger picture.”