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Stacy McCloud is a WVLT VOLUNTEER TV News anchor and reporter.
I don't think you realize just how important home and family is until you have been away from it for a while. I left this area for seven years and am finally back! I guess seven years isn't really that long, but is sure seemed like it!
Home for me is Campbell County, TN. I lived in Caryville on beautiful Norris Lake with mom and dad. My second home was in Lafollette at my grandparents’ house.
In fact, it was in that house, that my spark for broadcasting started. I remember watching the afternoon news every single day with my granny and thinking, "Wow! That would be fun. They only work 30 minutes a day." At that point, I just wanted to be on TV! Be it a model, singer, "news lady", or actress, like many little girls, I wanted to be famous.
It wasn't until later in life I learned what the news business is REALLY about. I found out that it wasn't as glamorous as it seemed as a child. I discovered you had to work long and strange hours, be on-call, work holidays and weekends, you name it! The "TV Phase" did pass, but only for a while. I then wanted to be a writer, a lawyer, a psychologist...oh, and a professional cheerleader, ice skater and gymnast in the Olympics!
I attended East Tennessee State University, where from that long list I chose Psychology for my major and Criminal Justice for my minor. Then one day, after taking only one broadcasting class, I suddenly changed my mind!
I decided I wanted to follow my childhood dreams of being a "TV Lady," only then I wanted the job for what it REALLY is-- not the glamour, but the adventure.
I ended up majoring in both Psychology and Communications.
While at ETSU, I was a reporter and anchor for ETSU's TV Station, a "late-night comedy show" personality, as well as DJ for the radio station. I was an active member of Kappa Delta Sorority where I met my very best friends.
Another great experience during college was when I was crowned Miss Johnson City and was able to go to the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant, a preliminary for Miss America. Not only did it offer scholarship money for college, it was also a growing experience that has helped me have the poise I have today.
My last semester at ETSU, I landed an internship at WCYB in Bristol, Virginia that later turned into a full time job as a producer and one-man-band reporter.
After a short time there, I was offered the position of my dreams, only it was in a location I wasn't too sure about.
Have you ever heard of Hazard? Sure you have, the Dukes of Hazzard, right? Well, I packed up, left my friends and moved to Hazard... Hazard, KY that is (no it's not the same Hazard).
There I was the 6 and 11 anchor, general assignment reporter and later the Healthwatch reporter at WVLT’s sister station WYMT. While there I grew so much as a journalist, but what I will remember most is the people.
They were so wonderful and will always hold a special place in my heart.
But when home called I had to take the opportunity. The transition didn't come easy, I had to make quite a schedule shift, but the atmosphere and fun of East Tennessee This Morning is just the change of pace I needed.
Since coming back home, I have made family top priority, especially since the birth of my niece Isabella.
My roots will always be in Campbell County, but home for me is now in Knoxville, where I reside with my two adorable "fur children", my cats Gizmo and Hildi.
When I'm not at work and with family, I enjoy shopping, decorating, working out and catching up on sleep!
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