Among other responsibilities, de Paula and the court sort turkeys to distribute during the Operation Gobble food drive with State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez.
By Eva Xu
Feature Editor
A month of practice and grace follows Princess Senior Livia De Paula as she strides towards the glass podium adorned with green leaves and bold red roses on the steps of the Pasadena Tournament House on Oct. 28. Brimming with passion, the Rose Court Princess speaks her story of perseverance, self-confidence and the power of standing up.
“I saw it as an opportunity to develop myself,” De Paula said. “So often in Temple City, there are leadership positions where you get to help your community, but to do so on a scale that the Tournament of Roses does is kind of insane. Their slogan is ‘Connect, give back and bloom,’ and you get to learn more about yourself throughout this whole process. We meet so many different types of people, and everyone is excited to talk to you and tell you their story.”
Living in Temple City, De Paula’s introduction to the Rose Court was seeing pictures of previous years’ princesses on the walls of her orthodontist. The Tournament of Roses Parade marches down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day. It features a court of seven young women across Greater LA, six Princesses and one Queen, ambassadors that exemplify teamwork, leadership and community spirit. As a part of the program, the previous year’s Court visits schools in eligible zip codes to recruit applicants at least 17 years old.
“When I actually decided to go for [court] was when the princesses took time off school and visited in spring and fall,” De Paula said. “They come and do a slideshow, telling about ways you can benefit from [the court]. I was really researching them after I saw that meeting, and I was on the website, and I was searching up podcasts, low-key going insane. But my mom sent me an email the same day, like, ‘Hey, this looks interesting.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I beat you to it. I already found that.’”
The selection for the Rose Court is a month-long process, including four interviews, narrowing down hundreds of applicants to 28 finalists. From the finalists, seven Princesses serve on the court for one year. The Volunteer Rose Court Selection Committee chooses the Rose Queen as the Princesses are observed during training. The first round starts with just a 15-second interview with the Committee, increasing in time as applicants progress. Throughout the entire process, applicants are anonymous, only known and referred to by their assigned number.
“In the final round, they want to simulate just a dinner,” De Paula said. “Because imagine you’re just able to have this conversation. They’re not trying to ask you tricky questions. And then you really have the chance to show what you’re passionate about.”
As a Princess, De Paula’s numerous responsibilities include attending over 75 community functions while receiving lessons in communication etiquette, continental style eating and gracefully gliding up and down stairs. Although the court tries to schedule around classes, events like visiting Huntington Hospital, various community clubs and riding the Goodyear Blimp land during school hours.
“The hardest part for me was knowing that with the schedule, I can’t go to Cheer practice,” De Paula said. “And it kind of broke my heart. I remember just sitting in an etiquette class, thinking to myself, I need to remove myself from the routine because I don’t think it’s fair of me to still be in a stunt group and get to perform, but never practice with them. So I took myself out of the cheer routine to keep going to lessons. I don’t regret it, but it was a hard decision.”
The Rose Court program opens many opportunities for the Princesses in forms of scholarships and sponsorships from brands like Lululemon and Clinique, but also for their future. De Paula, who is aspiring to become a nurse anesthetist, discovered new programs.
“I think these are lessons I’m going to carry with me throughout adulthood,” De Paula said. “Even surrounding yourself with the girls, they change you. They’re all so driven, and we’re all juggling these extracurriculars outside of the Rose Court. But it was really helpful to see everyone dare each other to dream bigger.”
Outside of royalty, De Paula is the President of ASB, Varsity Cheer Captain, hospital volunteer, ELD mentor, and part of the student advisory board.
“Be authentically yourself,” De Paula said. “Because even if you don’t make it, I feel like just the experience of trying out helped me reaffirm my values. You can always try again, and you can always change, because it opens up more time for you to be involved in something else in your community. It might open that door for you to see what’s beyond Temple City, and you don’t have to stop there. You can find more things that you connect with outside.”