More than 100 Lawrence high school students wrote their first cover letter this week. Yes, some of them made up the positions they sought and the credentials that qualified them, but nonetheless it was a realistic exercise of a question adults often pose to children: What do you want to be when you grow up?

On a visit to the Lawrence College and Career Center on Thursday, I accompanied members of the Jayhawk chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, who were giving presentations on writing cover letters to LCCC students. The students included juniors and seniors at Lawrence High School, Free State High School and the Lawrence Virtual School.

Some of the students, taking classes at the center in subjects such as robotics, certified nurse aide or forensic science, were able to line up skills with a potential career to write cover letters they could use in the near future. Others wrote as more distant versions of themselves, naming degrees they earned from colleges they’d like to attend.

But regardless of how much or little realism was at play in their letters, they were at least thinking. Thinking about how their education links up with something they could do for a living. Thinking beyond the canned advice we sometimes give to kids to just follow their passions or dreams.

When we took a break after the first sessions with students, we had a lunch of Reuben sandwiches — with homemade sauerkraut, sides and dessert — made by the LCCC culinary students, who gave a small introduction to the meal they’d made before boarding buses back to their high schools.

This is the first school year for the center, which was completed over the summer with funds from the construction bond issue approved by Lawrence voters in 2013. Students enrolled in LCCC classes attend four days per week for two hours. Transportation to the center, located at 2920 Haskell Ave., is provided or students may drive themselves.

New courses at the LCCC are available to high school juniors and seniors in seven areas: Health & Emergency Care, Innovation & Engineering, Law & Government, Bio & Forensic Science, Manufacturing & Robotics, Computer & Network Technology, and HVAC & Construction. Course offerings are available at the USD497 website.

There will be a ribbon-cutting and dedication of the center at 10 a.m. Sept. 26.