Steven Barrett

Graduated VT in 87 (Biology)
Moved to Maryland/DC area from 87-90. and worked in a Biotech Start-up for about 3 years. I decided I didn't want to wash glassware anymore, so I Moved to TX in 90 (at the behest of Ed Robertson) and lived in Houston from 90-94. Worked in several environmental chemistry laboratories while there. Also, I got hitched, got a master's degree, and moved to Austin in 94. Worked for a research laboratory in Austin for a couple of years, and then moved to MN in 97 for a job opportunity that my wife had. After two years in MN, the wife and her opportunity didn't work out. We divorced, and she moved back to TX. I stayed in MN and worked for McKesson Corp for about 7 yrs. During that time, I married again. I recently left McKesson and now work for Savillex.

I moved to Roanoke County and started CSHS in the 10th grade so I didn't have the benefit of the "lifelong" friendships that many others had growing up together. However, I did make some great lifelong friends while I was there. These friendships continued throughout my college days, into my young adulthood, and now into my "advanced years." I guess my best school story would be recruiting my friends for our own version of NASCAR between Roanoke and Winston-Salem in the summer of 83. My mother worked for a car dealership and the auto-carriers were on strike. The dealership still needed to get their cars, so the owner of the dealership decided to entrust brand new cars to the loving care of half-a-dozen 17 and 18 yr old guys. Every other day or so during that summer, the road warriors (me, Ed R, Eric L, Gordie Saul and usually several others) would pile into a Lincoln Towncar or some other GM behemoth car and make the trek to Winston-Salem NC. When we arrived in NC, we would cross the picket line, get called scabs by the truckers and then get assigned a brand spanking new car to drive back to Roanoke. Our single-minded goal (some would say obsession) was to get that brand new car back to Roanoke faster than anyone else. So, the race was on... I never knew that a Mercury Capri would get up past 110mph. Eric Lindamood was master of the Grand Marquis... How he survived the trips I will never know. Each of us literally risked our lives and our spotless driving records for the opportunity to be first back to the Roanoke car lot and pocket the sweet $25 cash reward that was waiting for each of us. If any of you or your parents purchased a car from Friendly Lincoln Mercury in the summer of 83, I apologize for any damage that was incurred during the 105 mile "burn-in" that the car endured that year.