CNN’s Brooke Baldwin counts down to UNC speech with advice from Charles Barkley and others

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your 21-year-old self?

That’s what CNN news anchor Brooke Baldwin is asking some of her friends as she counts down the days before speaking at the commencement of her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Videos of their responses, posted on Baldwin’s Instagram, have included basketball star Charles Barkley, ABC11 television anchor Steve Daniels, CNN personalities and a U.S. Navy commander.

Baldwin, who hosts an afternoon news show on CNN, will speak at 9 a.m. Sunday at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. The university has 6,010 students graduating.

Three days ago, she kicked off the week by posting a photo taken as she worked on her speech. She said that she started the writing process two months ago.

“Welcome to my Saturday,” she wrote. “And still writing/rewriting...”

In her video with Barkley, the basketball standout started by teasing Baldwin for not hitting the “record” button quite right the first time.

Barkley suggested that Baldwin should tell students he hopes they enjoyed college, because now they have to “work for the next 40 years.”

He also said he hopes the students choose something they enjoy doing, because “work is not as much fun if you’re doing something that you do not like to do,” Barkley said.

“Go Tar Heels?” Baldwin asked.

“No ever, never,” Barkley said.

Baldwin also asked fellow CNN broadcaster Dana Bash, who said she would advise her 21-year-old self to relax and not be so anxious.

“That pit in your stomach, just let it wash over you,” she said. “Because everything is going to be OK. You got this, girl.”

ABC11’s Daniels, who Baldwin said is one of her mentors, said that it doesn’t seem long ago that Baldwin was a 21-year-old herself, interning at ABC11. Daniels said that everyone at the station was proud of her success.

His advice was simple: Do what you love, and follow your dreams.

“Because if you’re doing what you love, you’ll be good at it and if you’re good at it, you’ll be happy and if you’re happy, you’ll be successful and everything will fall into place,” Daniels said.

Baldwin also got advice from U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bobby Rashad Jones. The two have known each other since 1991, when they were seventh-graders at the Westminster Schools, a private school in Atlanta, according to CNN reports.

Jones said that his 21-year-old self needs to be ready for his moment, because you don’t know when that will come.

“Your entire life has led to that moment. It may only affect one person, or it could change the course of history,” he said. “Regardless, be ready, and most importantly, when your moment comes, don’t be afraid of it.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 10:20 AM with the headline "CNN’s Brooke Baldwin counts down to UNC speech with advice from Charles Barkley and others."