08 Oct 2023 Youth of the Month: Victoria Barksdale

By Becky Bell

No one could accuse Victoria Barksdale, a junior at Mayflower High School, of not living life to the fullest.

Depending on what day of the week it is, the 16-year-old can be found assisting as a volunteer for the Mayflower Fire Department, taking care of livestock on her family farm or dancing at the city’s senior center with a friend who once danced with Bing Crosby and remembers classic Hollywood.

She also plays third base on the Mayflower softball team and is a forward on the high school’s basketball team. As she works this busy schedule, which some adults would find daunting, she maintains a 4.0 GPA.

Victoria, who is known to most as Tori, learned about the importance of firefighters from her parents, who serve with the Mayflower Fire Department. She doesn’t remember when she began to train as one of the team, but she is by far the youngest person who goes out on calls.

“I have learned how to pump the trucks and get out the hoses so they can start extinguishing the fire,” she said. “I don’t go into the fires. I stay on the truck, and as guys and gals come out of the fire, I give them water and Gatorade to keep them hydrated. I don’t really know how we got started in it but one of our friends is the fire chief, and a little while ago they were struggling for help, so we joined. I love helping the community and this is one way I can.”

Fire Chief of Mayflower Fire Department Ashton Tolliver said Tori has been a junior firefighter on his crew for the past two years he has been with the department and describes her as a “hard worker” and a “go-getter.”

“She always has a smile on her face and is eager to learn everything she can,” Tolliver said. “She is always joking and keeping the morale up. She is one of us.”

Another part of Tori’s life that brings her great joy, but also takes hours of her days and nights, are the animals she takes care of on her family’s farm. While on the phone for the interview, Tori was working in the barn trying to tend to sheep and get them washed and fed so they, and she, could go to sleep that evening. Despite the conversation going on between the writer and Tori, a particular sheep named N.C. (because she has no color) kept butting in as if she had something to add.

“She is a little loud and dramatic,” Tori said. “No, she doesn’t act like she is hurt, but when she doesn’t get her way, she acts like it’s the end of the world. She’s high maintenance.”

Maintaining chickens, cows, sheep, goats, dogs and cats is something Tori primarily takes care of on her own, although her proud mother, Kim Barksdale, helps too. Kim said that Tori shows for the Future Farmers of America (FFA) several months of the year, and she must wash, dry, exercise and feed her animals, which takes at least three to four hours a night.

The teen’s animals have always had a place in her heart, and when she graduates from high school, she plans to get her undergraduate degree at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and continue her education at Oklahoma State University to eventually become a veterinarian. She said she will come back to Mayflower to work as a veterinarian because she loves her home and it’s been good for her.

But before she completes high school, there are still activities in the community she loves doing, including weekly visits to the Mayflower Senior Center. Tori enjoys playing games with the seniors and listening to their stories. She has one special friend, Kathleen Kennedy, who has shown her some impressive dance moves.

“Ms. Kathleen danced with Bing Crosby in the movie ‘Wild Irish Rose’ in 1949. And she danced for Paramount Network, 20th Century Fox and the WB Record Co.,” Tori said. “I’m not really a good dancer myself, but Ms. Kathleen, even at 97, has everything she had back in the day. We do some kicks and some circles, and we just dance and have fun. We don’t really have a specific dance; we just dance wherever the music takes us.”

So, the most obvious question for Tori is, “When do you possibly sleep?” Well, her school week is Tuesday through Friday, so Monday is the day she visits the senior center. But other than that, Tori has an incredible amount of energy and an impressive sense of time management. And at this rate, by the time she turns 30, there is no telling what she will have accomplished.