DR. WALLACE: I'm 17 and will be graduating from high school soon. I've enjoyed my school years. I've made many friends and have enjoyed learning with most of my teachers. My only complaint is that schools teach things that most students will never use in their adult lives.

For example, I took physics and learned a bunch of formulas that I know I'll never use again. How about diagramming sentences or conjugating a verb? These things are useless unless I go on to become an English teacher.

I studied a lot and maintained good grades because grades are important to employers. But like I say, if I become a legal secretary (my goal), most of the classes I was required to take in high school will not help me one bit. Maybe our school professionals should rethink the curriculum. — Kaye, Salt Lake City, Utah.

KAYE: You're right and wrong at the same time. That is to say, progressive administrators are constantly rethinking school curricula, striving to provide their students with the best possible education. Ideas about what young people need to know are continually evolving; no core curriculum is flawless.

But one principle of education remains constant: It should be broad rather than narrow. Schools would do both their students and society itself a great disservice by slotting students into specific careers, such as "legal secretary," and teaching them only the requirements of that career. Such students would be helpless finding their way in the larger world.

I often hear young people complain that they'll never use geometry or geology or English Literature after graduation, so why should they have to take it? My answer is that no one knows what knowledge he or she will ultimately find valuable in life — but very often it will be something gained in a required course.

The prime purpose of schools is to provide students with a general knowledge of many different subjects. A well-rounded education will enrich the student's understanding of his or her role as a citizen in a diverse and complicated world.

Good study habits provide a student with self-discipline and the ability to solve difficult challenges. Our brain is a complex organ capable of extraordinary feats. The more it's used, the better it functions.

You're to be congratulated for maintaining good grades even though you weren't sure of the future value of every subject you took. I guarantee that, as you go along in life, you'll find yourself making use of a great deal of the course material you now find useless.

When I was a student at Emerson High School in Gary, we were assigned a once a week class called Classical Music. Unfortunately for me, we had to forfeit a physical education class (my favorite) for classical music (ugh!).

It took time, but I now enjoy classical music thanks to a dedicated Emerson teacher who told our class that someday we would learn to appreciate the William Tell Overture. She was 100 percent correct!

SHOULD I TOSS HIS LETTER AWAY?

DR. WALLACE: Over the Easter break I spent two days visiting my cousin in St. Cloud. While I was there, she fixed me up with her boyfriend's friend. We double-dated and I had a nice time. This guy asked my cousin for my address and she gave it to him. That disappointed me because he had asked me for it and I told him no.

Well, to make a long story short, he wrote and said he wanted to drive to St. Paul to visit me. I really don't want this to happen. Should I write to him and tell him I will not see him if he comes to St. Paul? Should I tell him not to contact me again? Or should I just toss his letter away and ask my cousin to tell him that I don't want to see or hear from him again? — Nameless, St. Paul, Minn.

NAMELESS: Write to him and express your feelings so he will know exactly where he stands. Things sometimes get muddled when a third party intervenes!

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 [email protected]. 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.