This year’s 2025 graduation speaker, Dr. Trevor Nydam, is a transplant surgeon at the University of Colorado, a father of three Denver Christian students, and husband to his wife, Jane, also a physician. But long before medical school or parenthood, Trevor was a kindergartener walking the halls of Denver Christian for the first time in 1978.
Trevor isn’t the only Nydam whose journey began here. His two younger brothers, Aaron and Scott, also started kindergarten at DC—Aaron in 1980 and Scott in 1982—and all three followed strikingly different paths. Today, Aaron teaches biology and ecology through experiential learning in Jackson, Wyoming. Scott, a former professional cyclist on track to compete in the Tour de France before a career-ending injury, now runs a nonprofit cycling program serving Navajo youth in Gallup, New Mexico.
Three brothers. Three distinct paths. One foundation: a God-centered, Denver Christian education.
In his recent graduation address to the class of 2025, Trevor highlighted three values that shaped his journey and continue to define the Denver Christian experience: failure, feedback, and knowing yourself.
Failure: The Foundation of Growth
Though it may seem like a strange place to begin, Trevor opened his commencement speech by celebrating failure. Why? Because failure builds resilience, reveals character, and often opens doors we do not expect.
Trevor knows this firsthand. Before being accepted into medical school, he applied not once, not twice, but three times. Rather than giving up, he kept going by drawing on the mindset first nurtured at Denver Christian and now passed on to his children: failure isn’t final, and trying is a form of success.
His twin son Jess, a 2025 graduate, lived this truth through four years of soccer at DC. As a freshman and sophomore, he put in long hours during practice for limited minutes on the field, but he persisted. By junior year, Jess earned a starting position and rose in leadership to team captain, a position he also held in his senior year. His hard work paid off not just on the field but also in the lessons he’ll carry forward.
Trevor’s brother Scott also modeled perseverance amid failure. After training for years at an elite level, a devastating injury ended his professional cycling career. Instead of walking away from the sport, Scott redirected his passion, mentoring young riders who otherwise might never experience the freedom, opportunity, and discipline cycling can provide. He didn’t reach the Tour de France, but he’s helping others obtain something more critical: confidence, purpose, and community.
Feedback: The Fuel for Improvement
Trevor and wife Jane learned early in their medical training the importance of asking for feedback. While other students might observe a procedure and move on, they regularly asked instructors: Why did you choose that method? What could we do differently next time? It’s a habit they’ve passed on to their children—one Denver Christian teachers eagerly support.
“When one of our kids didn’t do as well as they hoped on a test or assignment,” Trevor explains, “we encouraged them to talk with their teacher. What could they learn from it? What could they do differently next time?”
That spirit of reflection and growth helped their twin daughter, Elsie, a 2025 graduate and this year’s Salutatorian, thrive throughout her 13 years at DC. It also helped their youngest, Lotte, now a rising junior, excel on the soccer field. Through regular conversations with her coaches and a hunger for improvement, she now plays on the top team for the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club. Where that path leads, no one knows, but her commitment to learning ensures she’ll make the most of it.
Knowing Yourself: Embracing God’s Design
Trevor’s final message to graduates was this: Know yourself.
At Denver Christian, students are repeatedly reminded that they are uniquely designed by God, gifted with purpose, strengths, and stories that matter. Trevor believes it’s essential that students discover their calling, not someone else’s version of success.
His brother Aaron could have followed a medical path, too, with his love of biology, but his love of ecology led him in a different direction, one that fits his heart and gifting. Trevor himself thrives in the unpredictable pace of transplant surgery, an area requiring over a decade of training and specialization. It wouldn’t be for everyone, but it fits him.
He also reflects often on his “why,” something instilled at DC and reaffirmed through his work with patients facing life-or-death decisions. “God created us for relationship,” he says. “That’s what I value most: walking with people through incredibly hard moments, knowing God is present in those spaces.”
A Firm Foundation
Denver Christian creates an environment where students are safe to fail, ask for feedback, and grow in knowing themselves. Whether it’s trying out for a sport they’ve never played, auditioning for a musical, leading a chapel, or enrolling in AP Physics, students are encouraged to try, ask, and know themselves.
Elsie, for example, didn’t grow up in a golfing family. But in middle school, she joined the DC golf team and kept at it. By high school, she qualified for State. We don’t know how she’ll use that skill for God’s glory, but she’s on course to find out.
This fall, Trevor and Jane’s twins, Jess and Elsie, will attend the University of Michigan. Jess is on a pre-med track, and Elsie is pursuing a degree in architecture. And as they go, they carry the same advice Trevor gives to 2025 graduates and us as a DC community:
“Be patient with yourself. Give yourself grace. Take care of your mental and physical health. Know yourself. Love yourself. Nurture your relationships with one another, your Savior, and your faith. Make that your foundation.”