Flor Gordivas
Senior majoring in electrical and computer engineering; minor in computer science
High School: Arvada High School (2013); valedictorian; National Honor Society member; three-sport varsity athlete.
Currently: Gordivas has already accepted a software engineering job with Lockheed Martin and plans to start working there in June. Last year she was a project manager for RockOn!, a five-day workshop hosted by the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortiums, where she led a team of 15 students, who helped plan and run the workshop. At the workshop, 65 student and faculty participants learned the process of designing, testing and launching a payload into space.
Interesting tidbit: Gordivas will be a first-generation college graduate.
Quote: The Justice Byron and Marion White Memorial Scholarship has carried me through my entire four years. It means everything to me. I haven’t asked my parents for any money. It’s helped me achieve my dreams.”
Ethan Gonzales
Junior majoring in environmental engineering
High School: Broomfield High School (2014); summa cum laude; varsity cross country and track. His time in the 1,600 is the Broomfield High School record, and he also owns the school record in the 3,200 (9:18.16).
Currently: Gonzales is a member of CU Boulder’s Presidents Leadership Class, a four-year leadership development program for outstanding undergraduates and CU Boulder’s varsity cross country and track teams.
Interesting Tidbit: Gonzales dabbles in freestyle rapping and music production with his teammates on the cross country team.
Quote: “To receive an award in the name of someone who has done so much for so many people is very fulfilling. It endows me with a sense of responsibility to have the kind of impact that Justice White had.”
Morgan Brendefur
Sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering; minor biomedical engineering.
High School: Centaurus High School (2015); summa cum laude; three-sport varsity athlete and captain of the basketball and soccer teams her senior year.
Currently: Society of Women Engineers; College of Engineering; Applied Science Engineering Leadership Program.
Interesting tidbit: She plans to study abroad in Australia next fall.
Quote: “When I got the call that I received the scholarship, my mom and I started crying,” Brendefur said. “Even in-state tuition was pushing it because of how expensive college is. It took a weight off my shoulders. It’s been a huge help to me.”
Lindsey Nichols
Freshman, undeclared major
High School: Strasburg High School (2016);valedictorian; varsity volleyball for four seasons and was team captain for three.
Currently: Nichols was selected to serve on Freshman Council for CU Student Government, representing the freshmen voice on campus; she's also executive aide for Marcus Fotenos, student body president of external affairs.
Interesting tidbits: Nichols can often be found playing piano in the basement of CU Boulder’s Catholic Center. She began piano lessons when she was 4.
Quote: “I loved the people who interviewed me for the scholarship,” Nichols said. “They emphasized community, and since that was such a huge value in my hometown and childhood, I wanted to be a part of the Buff family!”
Before the early morning light first kissed the fields of wheat, before the heat welled and the mosquitos swarmed, Lindsey Nichols would be set to work. Surrounded by her parents, brother, aunts and uncles, for hours the family would yank by hand tall strands of feral rye, a troublesome weed that decreased the price for the family’s organic wheat.
Sometimes they’d begin as early as 3 a.m., she says; The dew-soaked earth made for easier pulling.
Those were Nichols’ childhood summer mornings in rural Strasburg, Colorado, a small farming town of roughly 2,500 residents about 60 miles southeast of Boulder.
Today Nichols is a freshman at CU Boulder, and the recipient of the 2016 Justice Byron R. and Marion S. White Memorial Scholarship, established by family, friends and former law clerks in remembrance of Justice White and his wife, Marion. The $5,000 scholarship, given annually to a freshman who is a Colorado resident, is renewable up to four years for students who remain full-time, maintain a 3.25 or higher cumulative GPA and stay active in volunteer or community service activities.
Scholarship eligibility is based on academic achievement, participation in varsity sports and involvement in public service after the qualities of its namesake, Justice Byron White, who was an alumnus of CU Boulder, and Marion White, the daughter of a CU Boulder president.
White was valedictorian of his CU Boulder class. In 1937, he was selected to the All-American Football team after leading CU Boulder to its first-ever bowl appearance. He was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and served for 31 years before retiring in 1993. Marion White served during WWII in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), the women's branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Like White, Nichols is accomplished. She was valedictorian of her high school class, played varsity volleyball and she is active in CU Boulder Student Government.
She’s proud of her humble roots and receiving a scholarship named after a man she first learned about in her high school U.S. history class.
“I admire Justice White so much because he did it all -- he was a true renaissance man,” she says. “Just that competitive drive he had in sports, law and life. I feel like I have that, too.”
Far from the farm
Strasburg is a small town that emphasizes agricultural and family values, Nichols says. Although it’s only 60 miles from Boulder, coming to CU Boulder was new territory.
“Kids at CU Boulder went to high schools that had more students than my entire town,” she says.
- Prospective CU Boulder freshman and transfer students who complete an admissions application are automatically considered for merit scholarships based on the strength of their admissions applications.
- Students are also encouraged to apply for additional scholarships, such as the Justice Byron R. and Marion S. White Memorial Scholarship, with the CU Boulder Scholarship Application, by the Feb. 15 deadline, as well as for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before Feb. 15. Students should also consider applying directly to the sponsoring organization for private scholarships not affiliated with CU Boulder.
- Scholarships and CU Boulder scholarships offer general scholarship information.
To adjust to Boulder life, she’s joined smaller communities. She has become involved in the Norlin Scholars Program and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, in addition to student government. She created informal groups that she calls her “sports family” and “dorm family.”
Surrounding herself with supportive people who share her values, but also challenge her with new perspectives is key, she says. She has sought out mentors along the way, such as some of the missionaries at “St. Tom's,” and Marcus Fotenos, CU Boulder’s student body president of external affairs.
“Marcus is such a great mentor for me,” she says. “Seeing someone so young in his powerful position is inspiring.
“I can never forget where I came from. My roots will always be a critical part of who I am, because as I go out to navigate this crazy world, I always know I have a strong foundation in my faith, family and friends to get me through anything.
“It's been quite the journey of incorporating all that I am and all that I still hope to be.”
