A year after I left college, I was given the opportunity to host the 6 o'clock news in Baltimore. The whole goal in the media at the time I was coming up was try to move to larger markets, so getting the job at 22 was such a big deal. And I was so proud，because I was finally going to have my chance to be like Barbara Walters, who had been my idol since the start of my TV career. I was 22 in 1976, making $22,000 a year, it didn't feel right yet.
The first sign was when they tried to change my name. The news director said to me at the time, "Nobody's going to remember Oprah. So, we want to change your name. We've come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like. It's a friendly name: Suzie."
I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? I thought, no, it doesn't feel right. I'm not going to change my name. And whether people remember it or not, that's OK.
And then they said they didn't like the way I looked, so they sent me to a salon where they gave me a perm (烫发). After a few days all my hair fell out and I had to shave my head. At last, they really didn't like the way I looked, because I was black and bald and sitting on TV wasn't a pretty picture.
But even worse than being bald, I really hated being sent to report on other people's tragedies as a part of my daily duty. And after eight months, I lost that job. They said I was too emotional. But since they didn't want to pay out the contract, they put me on a talk show. And the moment I sat down on that show, the moment I felt like I'd come home. I realized that TV could be more than just a playground, but a platform for helping other people lift their lives. And the moment I sat down, doing that talk show, it felt like breathing. And that's where everything that followed for me began.
