Rose Parade 2025: Meet Lara Georgian, Rose Court princess
Lara Georgian’s journey to becoming a member of the Rose Court began with an unexpected discovery: the transformative power of theater. Once a timid child, Georgian found her voice and confidence on stage.
“Maybe people don’t know this about me, but growing up I was very shy and I don’t think people see that through me, because they’re like ‘wow, you do a lot of theater. It’s like the most outgoing activity ever,’” she said in a recent interview.
In middle school, Georgian pushed herself further. She joined the School Council and took on a role that required her to speak in front of others. Georgian credited these experiences with helping her build the confidence she carries today.
“ Growing up I was really shy, like, I guess, self conscious,” she said. “And so in middle school and high school, I’ve been proving to myself that, ‘oh, I am good at public speaking. I can have a conversation with somebody’, and I guess the Rose Court solidified that for me.”
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Now as a senior at Mayfield Senior School, Georgian is anything but shy.
She serves as the senior class president, swims on the school’s swim team, and is deeply involved in the Mayfield Theatre Conservatory program.
Her list of achievements includes: representing theatre for the school’s arts council, being a member of the National Honor Society, leading the Cubs Against Human Trafficking club, and volunteering as a referee for the American Youth Soccer Organization.
Georgian is also an advocate for Anne Frank’s life and awareness of the Holocaust, and a volunteer for Friends of The Los Angeles River, an organization that aims to protect and restore the Los Angeles River.
She is passionate about sociology, criminology, ethnic studies and history, and plans to pursue a pre-law track, with aspirations of becoming a social justice lawyer. She hopes to study these subjects at Georgetown University, Tulane University, University of California, Los Angeles, or University of Southern California, among others.
Georgian credits her parents for shaping her values and supporting her growth. Her mother, a former manager at Nordstrom, left her career to care for her and her brother. It was Georgian’s mom who introduced her to theater, enrolling her in programs that ultimately helped her discover her passion for the stage, she said.
Her dad instilled in her the value of hard work and dedication. Despite the demands of a job that required him to travel out of town weekly, Georgian’s father never missed an opportunity to be there for his family—whether it was coaching her soccer team or cheering her on from the sidelines.
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That support made her selection to the Rose Court even more special, though Georgian admitted she didn’t expect it to happen. In fact, she had told all her friends not to come to the announcement.
“I told all my friends not to come the day of the announcement because they had tests and stuff,” she recalled with a laugh. “‘You don’t need to come because nothing’s going to happen. You just go take your test at school. It’s fine.’ Then I got announced and my dad wasn’t here because he was working in Washington, D.C. He was live-streaming it in his office conference room. I was like, ‘dad, that would’ve been so embarrassing if I didn’t make it.’ But it all worked out.”