Kids.gov lists 82 possible careers worth exploring.

Eighty-two can’t possibly be all the jobs the world has to offer, but the list does look pretty comprehensive. It includes reporter and photographer, two jobs close to my heart, and some more off the wall ones.

We’ve spent some time this week asking children in our community what they want to be when they grow up. We’ll feature photos of 10 or so children dressed like the career professional they want to be in our upcoming Profile edition.

Projects like this one are always fun for us, because we get to work with precocious young ones who always have an interesting outlook on adult life.

So far, we’ve gathered the following professions: doctor, lawyer, pediatrician and baseball player.

That leaves quite a few from the kids.gov list to be spoken for. But some on the list seem a bit unrealistic for children.

I’ve yet to meet a child who walks around proclaiming his undying goal to be an actuary when he grows up. Dealing with risk and deciding how much death or injury may cost isn’t dominant on the child brain.

Zookeeper, however, is a career path I wish I’d given some thought to. Kids.gov warns that it’s very hard work, though.

Brilexus Green, a second-grader at Frazier Primary School, was our first model for the project.

But zookeeper wasn’t on her list either, she’s far too refined for that.

Brilexus is going to be a lawyer, just like the ones she’s seen on TV.

“They win cases for somebody,” she said.

According to kids.gov, “lawyers spend lots of time doing research. To be a good lawyer, a person must be good at finding facts in books, on computers and in other places.”

Brilexus is an honor roll student who loves math. She’s poised and pretty, and I know she has what it takes to accomplish all her goals.

But she’s young; and she’s entitled to change her mind a few hundred times between now and adulthood. Who knows, maybe she’ll decide against being a lawyer and just decide to play one on TV.

That’s the fun in talking to our children about their futures — every door is open.

Profile 2008 — an annual publication of this newspaper — is focused on the faces of our community.

Children like Brilexus are certainly faces worth seeing, and we’ll share her story and others with you on Feb. 24.

We are winding down months of work for Profile, and many of you have already been a part of it.

Eight children at Cathedral school did a bit of the work for us when they interviewed their grandparents about how life was different when they were children. The children took photos to go with their stories, and all of those will be a part of the special section.

Others of you have been sending us photos from your cell phones, which we will use in Profile to tell the story of Natchez in 2008. It’s not too late to send in your cell photos, just e-mail them to Ben Hillyer at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.

Still others of you have been in touch with one of our reporters for a Profile story.

And soon, our staff members will be roaming the streets of the Miss-Lou, taking quick mug shots of as many people as they can find. Each picture will combine with 100s of others to fill a page showing you the faces of the Miss-Lou.

Our goal is to include as many of you in this publication as we can, because after all, it’s your community, your newspaper and your life.

Julie Finley is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.finley@natchezdemocrat.com.