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Dr. Gabe Veas - Bio A Brief Family History Born and raised in the LA area, Veas has a heart and passion to invest in the future, by making a difference in neighborhoods on a personal level. With a Mexican heritage, the last names of his grandparents are reflective of this: Ramirez, Aguilar, Martinez, and Veas. Yet looking back on it all, Veas’ family came to the United States with a dream. One could call it the American dream, or better yet they were California dreaming. Here was the land of gold, filled with sunshine, freeways, palm trees, homes, diversity, fast cars, beaches, Disneyland, the Dodgers, and job opportunities. They had dreams of a better life. They were fueled with not just dreams of hope and opportunities for themselves, but more importantly with dreams for their kids to be educated and live a better life.
However, they also had fears. Fears that kept many of their relatives in the so-called safety and comfort of the old country, where they could fall back on the security that the traditional way of life in the motherland had to offer. Although these pioneers were scared of the unknown, not knowing the language here, or what exactly to expect when they would arrive, refused to let those fears stop them.
Veas admits that his family in the United States is humble. While previously his grandmother sold fruit as a street vendor, in some respects things have not changed that much economically for some in the family. Now, he has family living in trailer parks. His family is not made up of the wealthy, but they have pride. The family worked hard and made sacrifices. Some even dared to dream big, in thre process becoming college graduates, while others chose to serve the community in the fields of education, medicine, banking, automotives, and the military just to name a few. Some family members are even positive leaders in the community.
Unfortunately, some of the family members also fell into the traditions the neighborhoods that they grew up in. Some have broken the law, gone to prison, been addicted to drugs, got divorced, among other things. Some fell into a lifestyle that did not value the opportunities that were before them and became high school drop-outs. These family members took things for granted, like caring teachers, free schools, and libraries. They did not live up to their potential! Overall, his family may have regrets, but they did try their best to stick together and make a difference.
Based upon Veas’ upbringing, he realized the truth that each person, individually, will have to choose whether or not to follow the positive traditions or the negative traditions of their heritage, neighborhood, and family. He is dedicated to stating that, “just because things have been done a certain way, doesn’t mean that it has to continue.”
High School Days Growing up, Veas lived by a philosophy of live and let live. Yet, through powerful experiences in high school where human suffering became much more clear to him than ever before, he saw the futility of this relativistic perspective. Living life from day-to-day without purpose is no way to live. In fact, Veas realized that leaders and members of his community were obligated to use whatever resources they had at their disposal to invest in the next generation to stop the evil traditions that were entrenched in neighborhoods.
While at Nogales High School in La Puente, CA, Veas initially began to serve his community. He started this by spending the summer working with former gang members. He then became the leader of a club at his high school which sought to provide support to students who wanted to follow their dreams and make changes in their lives. In addition to this, he also volunteered for two years with an organization that worked towards improving the lives of Hispanic families.
With the support of a few in his family, he embarked to put his money where his mouth is. Despite those in his community who questioned his quest for academic excellence as some sort of sign that he was a sell-out, he was motivated to do well in school so that he could one day help others more effectively. Veas was one of the only guys from his high school, which was mostly Hispanic to go to a university. Opportunities then opened up for him to get more involved in film through a great program at his school. This is where he learned how to use a video camera and do video editing among other things.
The College Years At Azusa Pacific University (APU), where Veas received his B.A., he continued his path of community service. In addition to working several jobs, he found time to volunteer at several different places, including a convalescent home, an after-school tutoring program, a youth detention camp, and he also went on two service trips to Mexico. Due to the film classes that he took at APU, he was able give Hispanics from the City of Azusa an opportunity to be on television and share their stories. He was able to produce two segments for the local cable station. The first one featured one of the oldest tortilla making factories in the San Gabriel Valley. The other featured two Hispanic students from Azusa who excelled in high school and were later awarded scholarships to attend APU. It is evident that Veas believes in supporting positive role models.
At this point his mind for scholarship became more evident when he was awarded a research scholarship to Wheaton College in Illinois. On his arrival he also made his first academic presentation at APU’s Common Day of Learning. Next, Veas received his degree from the prestigious Fuller Theological Seminary. In light of Martin Luther King Jr., one of Veas’ main role-models, Veas is grounded in a faith tradition.
Following this, Veas was able to graduate from the University of Southern California with his doctorate degree in educational psychology at the age of twenty-seven. In the end, Veas believes that unlike some in his community who chose to go the wrong way then ended up back on track, he has chosen to take the road less traveled. By choosing to do things right, he has sought to provide a different track for others to follow him. He believes that his life and message appeal not just to those who are on the peripheries as habitual criminals, but also those who are on the fence who need encouragement to pursue the positive, as well as those who are doing great, in need of affirmation.
Professional Experiences Throughout his life, Veas couldn’t say that he had anything handed to him. Although he was able to obtain an incredible amount of scholarships, he still worked many hours a week to ensure that he could be self-sufficient and have self-respect. Some of the places that he worked at while in college include washing dishes, serving guests at Disneyland, and teaching students from the elementary classroom to the university lecture hall.
For the past five years he has been able to serve as a mentor to inner-city college students. Most of them were the first in their family to attend college. They all had the odds stacked against them, to do well and had giants standing in their way. All of them were either African-American or Hispanic. Veas continues to regularly meet with each of these guys once a week to stay on top of them, in order to ensure that they are doing well in life.
Veas still works for this organization and is deeply connected to their lives and their neighborhoods. He has also been able to speak at various universities, providing practical advice to first-generation college students. For Veas, he desires to broaden individuals’ view of the world, in order for them to see new possibilities for their lives.
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