Chosen Ones

Steven Ray Chavez-Gordy was born in Thornton, CO and is the youngest of four siblings. Steven (or Gordy as he is known) has had an eventful and accomplished career so far that has been shaped by key moments in his life.  With an undeniable drive to change the trajectory of his family, he has been able to achieve so much even with the odds being stacked against him numerous times. But sometimes even through the trials, there is a bigger calling and you are supposed to be the one that makes it that changes everything for the people around you.

Gordy is a Project Manager at BAE, Systems Inc. (Formerly Ball Aerospace) where he manages technical projects that deliver software development products to the enterprise.  He often acts as a translator between product owners and software developers and ensures that the requirements and functions for tools are documented and tracked. Now where Gordy shines is his ability to identify efficiencies in processes and workflows to make the task get accomplished faster or easier. It has been a common trait he has had throughout the different phases of his life. Sometimes we all end up in a place where our strengths shine and our abilities produce.

“Before my undergrad, I started getting to a place where I realized I've always been a person that hated inefficiencies.”

Again, I didn’t realize this until probably the last couple of years of undergrad, but disorder bothered me. I've always been very polished, like my room was always in order. In past roles, there were so many moments where I had to stop and say why do we have to do it this way with 10 steps, as opposed to having a tool or a system that we can use to do it in 2 steps? That was always something that really bothered me and I am glad I am able to leverage that today.”

Ordinary World

Lots of successful people grow up in ideal settings where the road to success is paved the moment they come into this world, others have to earn every step of success because they are the ones paving the road to it. Gordy grew up in Westminster CO, attending Westminster High School and is the youngest of a large Mexican-American family, which comprises of over 30 first cousins. . None of his family before him had actually graduated from a university, which in itself presented challenges for him thinking about a next step after high school because the support wasn’t as accessible to him. Although his family was always super supportive of him pursuing higher education, there were a lot of roadblocks that would come up that limited how much they could help. Something as simple as filling out the FAFSA was a foreign language and was difficult to navigate because it had never had to come up before.

“My family attended the school of life and developed their street smarts as a form of survival. Systemic inequities and lack of resources motivated them to chase the “American Dream” however they needed to and as a result, they spent a lot of time in and out of the criminal legal system. That was all I ever was used to and all I ever saw.

It was kind of hard for me to even picture myself at a university, but once I was actually in school, I realized it was something that I wanted to do.” 

Call to Adventure

Back in 2011, the prestigious Daniels Fund was a near-full ride scholarship that provided resources and support to over 200 students from the Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming areas. This was a bit of a once in a lifetime chance to pursue your academic dreams without having to mostly worry about the financial burden. The scholarship has changed significantly since then but back then, the only way a student could apply for it is if you got nominated for it by a teacher.

Well Gordy at the time was a great student, really a leader in his class being involved in a lot of extracurriculars as well as student government. Given all this though, he wasn’t involved in programs like AVID or Pre-collegiate where those nominations from teachers, which were limited, were awarded. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of potential to be college bound, and even with not being involved in those programs, he received a nomination from the AVID teacher, even though he wasn’t actually an AVID student. In a way he got that calling in the same way Luke Skywalker found out he was a Jedi or Harry Potter found out he was a wizard, in the most unexpected way.

“The Daniels Fund was based on nominations only for applications. Every school basically got a certain number that they could allocate. I think, if not for a teacher, who at that time was the AVID teacher, I would not have had all the opportunities I have had.”

Refusal of the call

We all have those moments that we almost messed up that could have changed our whole life. Think of Luke Skywalker not wanting to go with Obi-Wan Kenobi because there is no way that he is destined to be a Jedi. Well Gordy faced one of those moments with this application. When a teacher nominates you for such a prestigious scholarship, you submit what you need as soon as possible. Well, a simple follow up from the teacher revealed that Gordy wasn’t actually going to move forward and submit the application. Now before we go down a path of judgment and criticism of almost throwing away an opportunity, let's understand where Gordy was coming from. 

There are over 2000 applicants for the Daniels Fund across 4 states – many of whom were raised to learn how to be competitive and how to market themselves for scholarship opportunities. As already mentioned, Gordy didn’t grow up with this same knowledge as a resource. Opportunities like these don’t happen to people like Gordy, right?

“I think it was about 3 days before it was due. My nominating teacher had asked me how my progress was coming, and I let her know I wasn't going to do it. I told her I wasn’t going to do it because it was too big of an application. More than anything it was imposter syndrome. There are so many talented people applying for this, you know, what are the odds? I guess that was what went through my head.”

Meeting with Mentor

It took a push, and a big one to get Gordy to submit his application. The teacher motivated him, saying that he may have taken the opportunity from someone else. After a few days of sitting on it, he decided he had to submit. 

“She totally guilt tripped me and basically was like, I hope you don’t waste the opportunity. I remember I couldn't sleep for the 2 days leading up to the deadline. The morning it was due, one of my other teachers let me use her office for the day to work on the application.”

Well, nothing comes easy in this world. Due to questions being missed Gordy submitted the application a few minutes late and was disappointed that his lack of confidence in himself and preparation had cost him the opportunity… or did it?  Later that afternoon, Gordy would learn that as a result of overwhelming website traffic (due to others submitting late), the system broke and the application deadline had to be extended.  Luckily destiny had other plans and Gordy would move on to become a semi-finalist and then a finalist.

Crossing the first threshold

“I hadn't thought about college up until my senior year and it wasn't until I became a semi-finalist for Daniels that I realized I should apply to schools so that I could have an option if I were to be awarded. It was a challenging time though, as I hadn’t grown up with seeing anyone do it first-hand.” 

Luke Skywalker needed Obi-Wan to tell him that he has the force flowing through him for him to realize the power he really had. Having the world at your fingertips without even realizing you do is a power that many overlook. Some don’t overlook it because they grow up knowing it is there. Some don’t even realize it is at their fingertips because no one has told them. There was a huge break at Gordy’s fingertips and because of the opportunity his community had given him he now realized the power that he had to change the trajectory in his family. But at what cost? 

“I think we are in a place in high school especially, where we think we know everything. Having vulnerability during that time to say, hey I don't know how to fill out a FAFSA or any of these college applications for that matter and asking for help.

But more importantly, I remember one of the things in particular that I struggled with was getting guidance on sharing my story in my personal essay, because you need to differentiate yourself. I grew up in a house and culture where our personal lives were our personal lives. You keep that behind closed doors because it’s not for everyone else to know. So even writing the essay was really tough for me because it felt like I was putting dirty laundry out there to strangers. 

To be honest, I held back a little bit in my essay just because of those feelings. I remember being so nervous about my family actually seeing my admissions essay because I didn't want them to take offense to my interpretation of the experiences I grew up with. That's just one example, but it kind of speaks volumes to just where I was at that time.”

Nonetheless, just as Harry Potter finally became a wizard, or Luke Skywalker finally became a Jedi knight, Gordy in April of 2011 found out he was going to be a Daniels Fund Scholar which made him a recipient of one of the most renowned scholarships awarded in Colorado that paid for his academic pursuit. He got accepted to the University of Colorado-Boulder and confirmed his intent to enroll, forever changing the course of his life.

Tests

“I had seen struggle my whole life. It was scary. Not knowing what my path was. But it was also exciting not knowing what that was, and being able to figure that out versus the other side of the coin. I knew what that side had in store if I were to keep going through the trajectory of my family. I grew up with financial struggles and seeing my loved ones caught up in the system, which was enough for me to say that there needed to be another way.I think in some ways there was a little bit of pressure, but also hope for me to show the next generation of my family that there were other paths.” 

If we think about how a hero puts the weight of the world on their shoulders, it is always a selfless motive. Now Luke Skywalker decided to literally carry the galaxy and trust the force would guide him in shooting down the death star giving hope to the rest of the galaxy that the empire can be defeated. In many ways Gordy was that new hope to his family, and he was destined to be the one that broke down barriers, reached new heights, and provided a new light for his family. 

But as we sit here and imagine a warm and fuzzy story, there are always so many layers to the journey. Loss sometimes hits us in the worst of times, and the universe has a way to take the pain of loss and make us feel hopeless. Harry losing his godfather Sirius Black or Luke losing Obi-Wan was a heart wrenching moment for both because these moments were in such pivotal times that it feels like they can’t go on. But those moments make our heroes even stronger through their journey because they aren’t just doing it for themselves, there is a greater motivation for their pursuit.

“The summer before I was going to move into college, my brother abruptly passed away. This made me doubt if I should even go through with going even after getting the scholarship and getting accepted. My family needed me during this time, my mom needed me, I was grieving, how could I move away and leave them in such a tough moment?

But one of the last things that my brother had told me was that “it's great that you're gonna now be able to show a new path for my kids. Even if they're gonna still make the decisions, they can see that there is another option now.” I think that that was one of those moments that always stuck with me, especially through those times. I always remembered those words. I think having the pressure to be that other option in some ways always pushed me.”

Triumph

We all know how the story goes, our heroes always triumph after their biggest obstacles. Gordy’s superpowers have shown since those key moments in his life. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree at CU-Boulder in Sociology and Ethnic Studies, he decided he wanted to carve yet another path not yet carved. Realizing his strength in identifying inefficiencies, he returned to school this time at the University of Denver and received his Master’s Degree in Organizational Development & Leadership which eventually led to his role now as a project manager. 

Now you might ask, you just went through over 10 years of Gordy’s life in a paragraph, where are the details? It is not about the destination, it is about the journey. Some people are just chosen to figure it out and do great things in their life that impact the people around them. We got to know the struggles and the challenges that Gordy overcame that really made him the person he is today. Knowing his journey, we should know he is supposed to go do great things.  We know that Luke destroys the emperor and brings balance to the force. We know that Harry destroys the last horcrux (himself) and is able to defeat Voldemort. You already know that our heroes come through in their biggest moments, why would you not think Gordy would? 

Our heroes are always remembered for something whether its bravery, intelligence, being the greatest jedi the galaxy has ever known, or being the boy who lived. Here is what Gordy wants his legacy to be:

“For me a win would be if one other person could say that their life was just a little bit better for having known me. 

It goes back to so much of my own journey when I talk about that goal of pushing to want to finish college and show my family that there was another path. If one of my nephews or nieces could see what I’ve accomplished, then maybe that can influence their life for the better. That would make all of the sacrifices and hard times worthwhile. "