NATCHEZ &8212; Good career day speakers know to bring props. Cordell Thornburg went a step further.

A barber at Don&8217;s Barber Shop, Thornburg didn&8217;t talk about his job; he did it.

With a little help from seventh-grader Jermaine Minor, Thornburg showed off his barber skills and proved to the students that fixing hair isn&8217;t a trade, it&8217;s an art.

&8220;I think they&8217;ll go home this weekend and try it,&8221; Thornburg said afterward. &8220;They all said &8216;He made you look like a movie star.&8217;&8221;

Friday&8217;s Career Awareness Day at Robert Lewis Middle School was a lesson of sorts for Thornburg, too. He plans to go to barber instructor school soon so he can learn how to teach his trade. Ultimately he&8217;d like to open a barber school in Natchez.

Around 40 guest speakers from a variety of fields in the Miss-Lou rotated from class to class sharing information about their professions.

Attorney Anthony Heidelberg told students what they are doing now is going to determine their future.

&8220;Every year from this year on you are going to build on,&8221; he said. &8220;It&8217;s a stair stepping process. Take the time today to build.&8221;

Heidelberg told students his generation would soon depend on them to be the lawyers, doctors and community leaders.

Trace City Toyota General Manager Jimmy Walton told the students they&8217;d be the career day speakers before they knew it.

&8220;In life you&8217;ve got three choices,&8221; he said. &8220;You can make it, fall or fall and get back up.&8221;

Walton said he failed the first grade, struggled through school and got in too much trouble.

&8220;The teachers didn&8217;t fail me; I failed myself,&8221; he said.

&8220;But I knew how to play basketball and football. Find something you know you like to do, and stick with it.&8221;

Eighth-grader Justin McKnight said career day didn&8217;t help him make his choice just yet.

&8220;You&8217;ve got a lot of options out there in life,&8221; he said. &8220;There are just all these decisions.&8221;

But seventh-grader Ophelia Evans said the day at least gave her some perspective.

&8220;It helps you learn things you&8217;ll go through when you grow up,&8221; she said.

Speaker Dorothy Matthews, a public health environmentalist at the Adams County Health Department, said she had a pleasant experience with the students.

&8220;They asked a lot of good questions,&8221; she said. &8220;And of course they all wanted to know how much money you&8217;d make.&8221;