Before bringing cheers with his singing, G.C. Cameron, the lead singer of The Spinners, told Natchez Middle School students Thursday they should make the right decisions.

&uot;You have the ability. You have the understanding,&uot; Cameron said.

It is the responsibility of each individual not to bring weapons to school and not to do drugs, he said. And each student has abilities he or she can utilize, he said.

&uot;Each of you has something unique to offer,&uot; Cameron said. &uot;Each and every one of you has something unique within yourselves.&uot;

Cameron spoke to the students as part of a career awareness day sponsored by the Natchez Middle School Tech Prep Department, the Natchez Middle School Parent-Teacher Association and the Adams County School-to-Careers grant program.

The purpose of the event was to expose students to a variety of careers. The students broke into small groups to talk with people of various professions after listening to several solos and hearing speeches from Cameron and local attorney Vivian Toussaint.

Cameron told the students not to let what anyone thinks of them keep them from their goals.

&uot;I know from experience it doesn’t matter,&uot; he said.

Cameron, a native of McCall Creek, just east of Natchez, also told the students to share future success with their hometown.

&uot;If everyone of you here becomes successful and never come home again that leaves home empty,&uot; he said.

Cameron also told students to show a good attitude, respect others and to show discipline. They also need to remember they are special to him and to the world because God created them.

&uot;You are children of God and I love and respect everything that comes from the hand of God,&uot; Cameron said.

Attorney Vivian Toussaint talked to the students about her path to becoming a lawyer.

&uot;I had a goal in mind from an early age,&uot; she said.

But that was not the only thing that helped her become successful, she said.

&uot;I’m a lawyer today because I was stupid,&uot; she said.

Toussaint did not realize being poor or female could keep her from her goal.

&uot;I believed in myself and I stepped out in faith,&uot; Toussaint said. &uot;There was no way I could fail.&uot;

She also told the students not to buy into the &uot;excuse game&uot; of blaming race, sex, or learning differences on keeping them from achieving.

&uot;You can achieve in spite of it,&uot; Toussaint said.

She told the students to think of themselves as the energizer bunny,

&uot;You’ve got to keep going and going and going until you get to where you want to be,&uot; Toussaint said.

Natchez Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith ended the speeches by telling the students that drug use was the biggest threat to their future.

People have been denied jobs due to drug use and it is also a hard habit to break, Smith said.

&uot;If you never start you never have to break that habit,&uot; Smith said.