Joseph Laday Earns Degree After Losing Both Parents and Raising his Brother

Hailing from Port Arthur, Texas, Joseph Laday’s journey to earning his degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security was anything but easy.

Laday lost both of his parents while attending Texas Southern University and took on the responsibility of raising his brother, who was 15-years old at the time.

“I didn’t know how I was going to continue. I thought I was going to have to drop out of school, but with the help of professors, counselors and staff, it was very hard to keep going but with the support system they gave me it helped a lot,” Laday said.  

The support system created at Texas Southern also allowed Laday to get hands-on experience within his major.

“My favorite thing about the university is the opportunities I got while attending here. Even before I graduated, I got opportunities to work in my degree field. The internships, the traveling across the U.S., that’s one of my favorite things about TSU,” Laday said.

As Laday gets set for the next chapter in his professional career, he hopes to serve as an inspiration for other students who may fall on hard times while chasing after their degree.

“If I was talking to myself three years ago, I didn’t think I’d be here right now. No matter what you go through, or what life throws at you, you can make it. At the end of the storm the sun shines.”