Victoria McCoy

Victoria’s talk show to make a difference

By Nafisa Shaw

Look out, Oprah! Here comes Victoria McCoy, 17, from Lynchburg, Virginia, the loud and vivacious soon-to-be talk show host with a passion for music, entertainment, and helping people.

“I love people, she said. “I like to go up in people face and introduce myself… because that’s just who I am, I’m just, like, a lively person.”

Victoria considers herself to be a vivacious person because she feels like she is “lively.” She said she is very open to going out and being herself, and that she is far from shy.

Being on the “Bulldog Bytes,” a school broadcasting network, Victoria has experience with doing segments. For example, in February she did a Black History Month special. She said her broadcasting teacher thought she would be good for Bulldog Bytes because she is “outgoing and loud.”

Victoria gets a lot of her inspiration from her father. Victoria and her dad share a common interest in music. Growing up with a dad who has been playing the guitar and been in music for about 40 years affected Victoria, and she too started playing the guitar and violin in the fourth grade. She said, “He is like a big influence on me.”

“Once I’m passionate about something there is nothing stopping me,” Victoria said.

When asked whom she admires, Victoria said, “My parents,” and added how her parents overcame obstacles. No matter what they have experienced with their own parents being separated and divorced, they didn’t let that affect them. Victoria said she admires and loves how strong their marriage is.

Victoria said she respects Oprah and finds her career path very fascinating. She admires how Oprah started from the bottom and didn’t have the best life growing up and even getting fired from her job. Oprah became quite successful by herself and did not let obstacles bring her down. Victoria would like to have her own network to influence people in a positive way.

If Victoria were to have her own talk show like Oprah, she would talk about issues around the world, not just in the U.S.: human trafficking, child slavery and child labor. She said she feels as if these issues are not talked about as much on the news and journalists tend to forget about these tragic things that are happening. She said that her show will focus less on politics and more on these issues that also matter, too.