'Tween 12 and 20 by Dr. Robert Wallace

DR. WALLACE: My boyfriend and I are both first-year students at the University of Wisconsin. We have been a couple for almost two years. Now that we are at the university, we rarely get a chance to see each other because he is a football player and spends most of his spare time working out in the weight room. I live in the dorm, but he has joined a fraternity and lives in the frat house. Since we don't have any classes together, we usually don't study together. This all means that we don't get to see each other as much as we did when we were in high school.

Do you have any good suggestions for how we can spend more time together? I doubt if we will ever have a class together. I love this guy and he swears that the feeling is mutual. I will be forever grateful if your answer to my question brings a positive social life for us. — Sadie, Madison, Wis.

SADIE: Everything has a priority! You and your boyfriend could spend more time together if you both made it one of your top priorities. Talk it over with him and arrange times to be together. Madison is a wonderful city providing many opportunities for couples to enjoy time together.

When I was an undergraduate student at Knox College, in Galesburg, Ill., achieving passing grades was a very high priority for me. But courting my future wife, who was also a Knox student, was a prime priority. Fortunately, I accomplished both goals. But since a prime priority takes precedence over a very high priority, I wound up with an excellent wife but only good grades. It's a good thing I had my priorities in order!

THREE YEARS IS TOO LONG TO WAIT

DR.

WALLACE: I'm 18 and the guy I was dating is 20. I say "was" because he is locked up for over three years. He was convicted of armed robbery. He and his buddy were caught robbing a liquor store. My boyfriend told me that this was the first time he had used a gun to steal money, but another of his friends told me he had robbed 10 or 11 liquor stores — this was just the first time he got caught.

This guy and I correspond regularly. He keeps saying that he loves me, has learned his lesson and will be a model citizen after he's released. I really want to believe him because I like this guy very much.

My mom (she's a single parent) wants me to stop contacting him, but I find that hard to do. Also, I feel that my letters keep him from being lonely. What are your feelings about this? — Gina, San Francisco.

GINA: I certainly hope your boyfriend becomes a model citizen after he has paid his debt to society. But my main concern is for you, not him! I agree with your mother 100 percent. He's not worth waiting for. He hasn't even been fully honest with you. Continued involvement with him could pull you into a lifetime of misery.

Armed robbery is not a petty offense; it's extremely serious. He repeatedly put people's lives at risk in order to put a few dollars in his pocket. Perhaps, he'll undergo a profound change while he's in prison and change his life, but it's possible he won't. Three years is much too long to wait in any case. Start living your life and stop worrying about him.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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