George.
I'm a homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody.
You don't know if you don't lie about that. Right, Hey, y'all, what's up.
It's Lauren de Rosa and this is the latest with Lauren de Rosa.
This is your.
Daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all of the conversations that shake the room. Now, this episode is extra special. I would say that this is an exclusive, but it's even more than that. So today I'm taking you guys on a journey with me back to my HBCU, my alma mater, Delaware State University. I'll
be speaking at a ceremony called convocation. Now, the ceremony is the welcome ceremony that sets the tone for all of the freshmen and incoming transfer students, and you know a lot of the students of the student body who just need that extra word and push to get through their semesters. Super crazy because I remember being at my convocation and wondering what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, and how it was going to happen.
Now we are here.
Started from the bottom, Now we're here. So take a listen. To some of the ceremony.
Enjoy.
You know, if you guys are online just having a conversation about anything, inspo, anything Black College, anything, HBCU Pride, remember this conversation and include this conversation because this is exactly what the full circle of the HBCU alumni.
Life or world looks like.
You go, you leave, you come back, you motivate, you inspire, and you just learning to help in hand.
Enjoy.
Lauren is a proud alumna of Delaware State University, and we couldn't be more proud to welcome her home. Thank you y'alln and got me emotional. I ain't even said a couple words yet. Good morning, everybody, How are you guys? Y'all gotta wake up a bit. I'm the pregame queen.
Good morning everybody. How y'all feeling this morning?
So my name is Laurena Rosa. You know, I am so honored to be here. I was a student at Delawares University. I graduated in twenty fourteen, and I'm hearing them talk about the class of twenty twenty nine and now I'm like, whooh, I'm a grown up. I'm here, this is happening I'm just you know, honored to be
here for many reasons. You know, I heard, you know, people before me talk about vision, and that's ironic because this morning, when I decided what I was going to talk about, vision was one of the things that popped up.
And coming to.
Delawaresce A University was that for me, it was the sharpening of the vision. It was the tool that I needed to really like they say, you know, go out and make your mark on the world. And when you hear it here, it's just like something you have to know the same way you can have to know that slide and you know state state Okay, y'all, y'all, y'all, kind of seniors state, Oh no, no, no baby, so y'all y'all might be the largest class y'all didn't had a while, but we were in this room.
You could hear it, and you could hear the thunder of it.
Because the things that you learn here the state, the make your mark on the world, the you know, look to the left of you, look to the right of you, and really understanding relationship building that has carried me in so many of my peers so so so far. You know, when I came on the campus. I'm from Women's in Delaware. Any Women's in Delaware here? Yeah, okay, so I'm from women'son Delaware. When I came on this campus, one of the things that I knew was that like, I wanted
to work in entertainment. I didn't know how. I didn't know, you know, what it would be. I just knew what I liked and what I didn't like. So I thought. But I was able to use this campus, and I want to implore you guys, and you know, challenge you guys to do the same thing. I was able to use this campus to really understand vision and how vision should be protected. So you might not know today, you might not know what the school year is going to hold.
You might not know you know what every single day will be. Shoot you, I might not even know if the major that you guys have chosen at this pointer will choose or you know, we'll go in and out of is exactly what you want to do, anybody here, so figure in life out. Raise your hand. Everybody should raise their hand, adults. People look every day. I woke up this morning and I said, God, I don't know what today has in store for me. I don't know,
but I'm here and that is my message. As you sharpen and protect your vision.
You may not know.
There's a lot of things you will not know. There's a lot of days you will not be for sure. But you are here. You are showing up. And if you wake up every day, if you apply yourself to something every day, if you are here at Delawares Sate University, you are a lot further than the people that are not here with you now. In times where you don't know, there are certain things that you choose it tend to do. You might pick up a phone and call a friend.
You might look around you. People have talked about mentors. I know miss Lorie Hayes is in the building, say him, and says Miss Hayes was my mentor. I have my uncle Tony here as well. There are people that are placed right next to you. I said, look to your life and look to your right earlier, let's really do it.
Look to your left and look to your right. In times that you do not know, you will learn as you go out into the world how important these people that you were building these relationships from day one, day two, day twenty, day thirty here at Delaware State University will be for your end all be all. I cannot say that enough. There are times where I'm doing certain things, whether it's at work or in life, and I pick up the phone and the people that I call are
graduates also of Delaware State University. It is so important that as you understand what your vision is and you try things and you do things and you sharpen that you also understand that the person down but that one plus one will always equal to because you know, everybody's building something. Everybody has a dream, a thought, a goal. And when you do not know, you can look to
the people next to you. You can call on you know, other Delaware s A University students that you will begin to meet and do things with to help you bring that vision to life. There's a lot of times where you may not know, but you'll it'll do it anyway, and you should.
I implore you. I challenge you to do it anyway.
You post that pic on the GRAMD, you're promoting that business, only one person likes it, post the second one. You put on that outfit because fashion is your thing. It don't come out like we thought it would. I've been there before, put on another outfit. You're literally in the game, and you're in the league, whether you're actually playing a sport or you know, I'm hypothetically speaking where if you
don't shoot the shot, the shot can't go in. And you guys are already here like you're already like you're not even trying out for the team.
You're on the You're literally sitting on the side of the court.
You have the team jerseys on, they've already called your name, your family's tier, the cheer you on.
All you have to do up is do is get up and go and do it.
Get up, get in the game, and try so every day when you don't know, I challenge you to continue to get up, try get in the game.
Miss the shot. If you don't take the shot.
You won't You don't even know if you will make the shot. Now recently I learned a big lesson in you don't know. I've always been a person to just kind of, you know, jump out the window and figure it out. No way down, but and it happens. Coming to Dell State was like that for me. I was not supposed to be here. I thought I was going to be in New York or California or wherever. I honestly only applied to Dell State because of Miss Lory Hayes.
Back there.
She was like, well, you know, just in case, apply to Delaware State because you're not gonna want to not be anywhere again. I want you to at least be able to get on the court when everybody else suits up. I want you to be at least able to get on the court. Throw something at the wall, see if it sticks. I applied for Delaware State. They came to my high school. They offered me scholarships. I don't even think I really understood the gravity of what I was offered.
I came here on a full academic ride.
I was able to do so much, and I wasn't burdened with like financial issues and you know, some of the other issues that I had saw a lot of my friends who went to other schools have.
To deal with.
Because the Delaware State family really took me in. I've made friends in financiate. I did everything that was said to me to do. But years later, I'm still walking in rooms and figuring things out where I don't know. So to back it up, So within this year, I decided to jump out another.
Window again, and I let la.
I moved back to the East Coast, no job, just trying to figure it out. And in my industry, you're really out of sight, out of mind. If people don't see you every day, if they don't hear you every day, it could be the end of the end. And I told y'all, I realized while I was sitting here, I'm a real grown up now, and real grown ups have
real bills. So that was very scary for me to do that at the time because of so many different reasons, including you know, financially, it's just a thing to start over. When you get to a certain point, you guys are in a very great position because when you don't know here at Delawares a University, you'll have your things, and you'll have your issues and your things that become your
daily like, you know, burdens that you're figuring out. But man, this is the time where if y'all want to go out of you know, I was gonna sigure out of a few windows with bybe.
I shouldn't say that.
But if y'all want to try things and do things, you don't have as much weight on you to figure it out. And you learn here how to soar at times where you're not even taught to fly, you just literally have to figure it out. So when I decided to step out of that window again move back over to the East Coast, it was what I learned here at Delawarestate University about vision and what I wanted for myself that made me realize, this is something I can't even talk to people about. I just have to do it.
So in doing that, I did it. I decided to start guest hosting. I'm not even decided, but I was given an opportunity to start guest hosting at a platform called the Breakfast Club. If any guys ever listened to us, so I said with CHARLEMAGNEA goud, DJ MV and Ess hilarious. But in that whole process, within the last couple of months, me and Jess were super viral, and that was a space that I had never been in either. And here I am again, I don't know, I don't know what's about to happen.
I don't you know. I literally have no idea.
But all I know is is what my vision was for myself, and a lot of that vision again is what I sharpened and home didn't here at Delawares State University, I knew, you know, what I wanted my end goal to be.
I knew I learned.
Right here at Delawaress University conflict resolution and you know, just perception and branding and starting right here, when people came on campus, we knew who was the what. Okay, this girl does the interviews, this girl is the dancer, this girl's fashion. That guy's a scientist, that guy's the
number in the accountant. God, you guys don't even realize it, but what you're working at every single day, just by showing up and getting on the court with your jerseys already on, becomes your vision, becomes your brand, and that carries you into life and then you have a clear pathway of what you want. When you know what you want, it doesn't matter what happens. So I'm walking into this new room, new people, new conflict, new things that I have to figure out. For once in my lifetime, I
was the story. I wasn't chasing the story. And it's a lot of noise. Can y'all start clapping in here from your right clasp really really loud? But what you guys will know, thise is when you clap, you can't really hear me, Okay, you can stop clapping in so, how many of you guys were able to hear me perfectly as the claps were happening.
A few of you, right? How many of you guys can hear me better? Right now? Let me see some hens in their right.
So life is always good when it's quiet and it's calm and there is no noise. But as you go throughout your years here at Delaware State University and you get out of dull State and you go to leave your mark on the world, and that vision has to kick in. The biggest thing you have to remember is that the noise will come. Those things will happen, but you always think back to your foundation, which is what
you get right here at this HBCU. And when you're able to do that, you learn how to mentally when all of that is happening, when all the clapping and all the noise is happening, You learn how to tunnel vision right through it and remember where your vision is taking you and why it's important that you arrive there unscathed.
Outfit heals all of that.
When I show up, I show up and I make it a thing to make sure that I do, because that walk trying to talk to y'all over the clapping and the noise.
That is not easy.
Being here for the four years, the five years, the hopefully four the five years, the one year you have left wherever you guys are and your school at the point, it's not an easy thing.
It's fun. You learn a lot. It changes your life.
The experience of life that you learn at Delaware State University and traveling to other HBCUs and you know, becoming Greek, being in the band. All that stuff is fun and it will shape you as a person. But there will be hard times. Things will happen. You will have to figure out money, life will life. But you'll still have your dream, You'll still have the things that you're pushing for.
And it is so important that when people start clapping and the noise starts happening and clapping again, for me, it is so important that you learn how to speak over that, how to focus over that.
Y'all get what I'm doing here.
Y'all have to like the the amount of leverage that you guys have. Because you're already on the court, you won't understand it while you're here.
I didn't understand it while I was here, but.
When I left, I was like, man, I was somewhere for four years that allowed me to figure out who I was, what I wanted.
I thought I knew what I wanted.
But when I came to Dell State the way that you know, I was able to polish it, wipe it off, hang it up, take it to the dry cleaners, seem it, get it really ready for what the world was gonna throw at me.
Because that's another thing too.
When you get out into this world, you know, especially for all of the people in here that look like me, you get out into this world, baby, they can't wait to humble you or try to. But when you have your vision, when you have your foundation, look to the left of you again, look to the right of you again. When you have the people that you can call on and start it right here with you, it's nothing nobody can tell you.
Thank you.
I don't know why I be so emotional, Oh my god. My point is, I'm so honored to be here. I don't know why I'm so emotional. Maybe it's just like a it's all happening for me type of thing, Because it's happening for y'all too, but I really, you know, just I want these next couple of years for y'all to be amazing. And if I haven't said anything, or these tears and my makeup that's messing up right now
hasn't done anything for y'all. I hope that it really motivates you guys to get on campus, do listen, go to class, have a good time. At the same time, learn the balance, enjoy these years. You won't get them back. And I know I sound old or however saying that, but listen to me when I tell you this right here is the best pree game for life you will ever experience.
Do it, and do it well.
At the end of the day, y'all, there's always a lot to talk about, and every single time you guys are right here with me to talk about it.
I'm just elated.
Okay, we are five million plus downloads in and we're doing this thing together. I feel like we are a family, my Lowriders. Thank y'all for tuning in every episode. Tell a friend to tell a friend that this is where their daily download needs to be for all things pop culture. I'm your host, Laura La Rosa. I'll see you guys in my next episode, and I promise I.
Won't be jiggling baby.
Go ahead, baby, y'all won't hear the next to sex Time by Dad.
See y'all later