Lamar Overton:  

Life: Well, where do I start? I guess our senior year is the best place to start. As you know, most of us graduated from Adams in July of 1980; remember the whole teacher's strike thing that kept us from graduating on time. The year 1980 is, also, the year of my freedom from my parents rule. I love them to death, but I could not wait to be on my own. For the first time in my 18 years, I had the chance to do what I wanted to do and not what everyone else wanted me to do. My first major decision was to attend college. You know I am a John Adam's Rebel. So, "watch out world!" was my mindset. I attended The Ohio State University for a few year, but life and circumstances got in the way. I suffered from system overload with school, work, and life. (Read more under college heading) I left school and I found comfort with work and church. I took out a year to read the bible from cover to cover. I got rid of my television, and each night after work I read the bible, which opened my eye up to the world on a spiritual level. I went from the beginning of everything in Genesis to all those "who beget who" in following chapters to Revelations, the end of things. I did it with an open mind, and my eyes were open not with the crap we see on television with preachers begging for money and more money. God through the bible told me why we are created, and where we are going. ...truly the greatest book of all times. ..but, I am a complicated person. I can truly say, I have made many mistakes in my life. ..mistakes associated with self, people, and against God. I am ashamed of some of the decisions I have made, which, by the way has led to negative results. Financial, personally, and professionally, I am just starting to see positive things happening, now. In many ways, at this point in time, this is a new beginning for me. The key is to have a balance life--not a one sided approach. If I can say that I am becoming successful, I owe it to God and the people he associated me with, who help me through really tough times. Can anyone associate with my story? I do not wear my spiritually on my sleeve. In fact, very few people know of my convictions, but I have them, internally. My marketing professor said there are many people like us out there. We are untapped and we cannot be reached from a marketing standpoint, but we can reach you, and we are out there. My faith is what has gotten me through the sicknesses, broken relationships, and deaths in my family and friend. Mom and dad both had serious illnesses with heart attacks and strokes, respectively. Somehow, I made it thought it all. Then, mom died in 2002, and dad died in 2003 both of cancer. These were tough years. Recently, I lost a very good friend to a massive heart attack; I watch him die, and there was nothing I could do about it. If it were not for my understanding of God's purpose for us, I would have crumbled. This life that we live in is created to be finite. Eternity is on the horizon. Well, after almost 28 years, I finally have a degree majoring both Business Administration and Organizational Leadership (Cum Laude); I figured since it took almost 3 decades to graduate, I figured I should put some emphasis into it. I plan on going into business for myself hopefully starting next year. I would like to own rental properties as an annuity. The satisfaction I once received from my present job of 16 years is not as rewarding as before. Sure, I make a decent living, but I do not think the organization knows what to do with me. I consider myself an anomaly in that I have proclivities towards art, math, science, and business. I love to learn how things work, and this mindset takes me down many avenues. It is a blessing and a curse. Some people will call this ADD. :) School Who was your biggest crush? Hmm, that hard to say; it seem like each month it was someone new. You know how that high school stuff is. Which teacher inspired you most? At the time, art was my life, so I would say Mrs. Lofton, my art teacher, inspired me most. However, indirectly, Mr. Marks showed me life is not always fair; our attitude towards life has much to do with how successful we are in life. The opportunities are out there; we just have to seek them playing by the rules. Opportunity is much like seeking a mate. First, it starts with flirting, dating, and commitment. Lastly, you have to marry it to gain its fullness. And if you could do it all over again, would you? Yes indeed, but I would be smarter about it. Spill your funniest, happiest, and craziest school memories here. OMG, there are tons of memorable moments mostly dealing with my buddy Dwight. This guy is sharp, even at age 18. The way he could analyze and dissect a person and then let them know about themselves was a work of art. I remember hours of pure laughter, which is the reason I receive my first "B" grade in art in the 12th grade. Teachers, Mr. Marks, we...Expand for more