Miss Southeastern Alyssa Larose File Photo/The Lion's Roar

Since being crowned last December, Miss Southeastern 2018 Alyssa Larose has worked to be more involved and active in the community.

“Being Miss Southeastern has been wonderful the past now almost four months,” said Larose. “I’ve done a lot of things on campus and in the community. I’ve also been preparing for the Miss Louisiana Pageant. It’s amazing where the crown will take you because one journey always leads to another. It’s very unexpected. You never really know who you’re gonna meet or what opportunities are going to come forth when you do something.”

As Miss Southeastern and a student involved in various student organizations, Larose balances her time commitments.

“It’s a good thing that my entire life I’ve been very busy,” said Larose. “I’ve always had to balance school with other things like dancing and other extracurriculars and organizations at school. So once I got into college and I wasn’t so busy my first year, it was very weird. Being busy is where I feel comfortable. I just need to make sure that I’m setting time aside to study because I’m really on campus every day from 7:30 in the morning to 7:30 at night doing classes, organizations and going to appearances as Miss Southeastern. But I’m making it work, and I wouldn’t want it any different.”

Larose’s platform is educating about and finding a cure for juvenile diabetes. The sophomore elementary education and special education, grades 1-5 major is in the process of planning a fundraiser event for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 

“Last month, I actually visited the JDRF office in Baton Rouge and got some T-shirts and wristbands and some supplies to use at the event,” said Larose. “I’m working with CAB to come up with a budget, and we’re going to decide if it’ll be an on-campus event or off campus, but it’s gonna be open to everyone.”

Larose shared some of her plans for the event and defined her goals for it.

“My hope is that admission into the event will be a donation to JDRF,” said Larose. “It can be as much money as you want. It just has to be at least a dollar, and we’re gonna have some fun stuff. I’m hoping maybe we can do a jump-a-thon or possibly like a walk for diabetes. What we’re gonna do is we’re gonna come up with a few different ideas and do a student poll online so students get to vote on what they would want to go to, and we’ll go from there. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

Campus Activities Board President McKenzie Tolson discussed Miss Southeastern’s involvement on campus.

“I feel like she’s really made a presence on campus,” said Tolson. “I see Southeastern dining puts her on their Instagram all the time, which is really awesome, so she’s really representing Southeastern really well.”

Larose will also be hosting a peanut butter drive at John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge for the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana. Preparation for the Miss Louisiana Pageant includes searching for a Fleur de Lis Princess and promoting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

“I’m selling raffle tickets to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals,” said Larose. “We’re raffling off a diamond ring, a pink cooler similar to a YETI and a framed picture from a famous artist. The raffle tickets are $5, and the raffle will end in April. If anybody would like to buy those from me, they just have to contact me.”

Larose recounted one of her favorite moments as Miss Southeastern at “Rock ‘n Roar Fest.”

“I was out there walking around just meeting people, and a little girl walked up to me,” said Larose. “She was so excited, and she said, ‘I love princesses. I love princesses so much,’ and I said, ‘Do you want to take a picture?’ Her little face lit up. It was like the best feeling ever.”

Larose discussed why she chose to go into the career field of education.

Larose said, “In high school I coached a third through sixth grade cheerleading team, and I realized one day how much I love to see the children go from one level to the next and see their progression, see how much they mature and see how excited they get when they can finally get something they’re working at. So, I decided I wanted to be able to have that experience for the rest of my life.”

Larose discussed how else she has been preparing for the Miss Louisiana Pageant in June.

“I’ve been waking up super early to make sure I’m working out,” said Larose. “I like working out in the mornings so that once I’m tried from school and everything at night, I don’t have to force myself to go to the gym. I’ve been eating well. It’s really important that I maintain a healthy lifestyle. My favorite part about doing that is I’m encouraging the people around me to also have a healthy lifestyle.”

Another favorite moment for Larose was attending a Miss Louisiana meeting in February.

“When I was at the meeting, I met one of the Miss Louisiana official sponsors, which is Applause Fashion Boutique in Little Rock, Arkansas,” said Larose. “The day after the meeting, my mom and I actually went to Arkansas to meet Tony Bowls who is a pageant and prom dress designer, and I got to design a custom dress with him, which absolutely made my entire year.”