DR. WALLACE: I'd like to respond to the young lady who was terribly depressed because she lost a school election for secretary of the sophomore class. Tell her not to give up. I hope my experience will give her hope. I ran for class student council representative in 7th grade, class treasurer in both 8th and 9th grades and class vice president in the 10th and 11th grades. Not only did I lose every one of these elections, I always came in last.

In my senior year, I decided to go for broke. I ran for student body president and wound up winning the closest election in school history — by a single vote! They counted the ballots twice and both counts were the same.

On the day of the election my sister was sick, but I encouraged her to come to school and vote for me because I at least wanted as many votes as possible. That way I wouldn't look too bad when they posted the ballot counts. Little did we realize that her vote would put me over the top!

And that was just the beginning. Two years later I was elected student government president at my community college. My advice to all the "losers" out there — never, never give up. Perseverance is a wonderful trait. — Ray, Tustin, Calif.

RAY: Thanks for your inspirational advice. Many of today's winners were yesterday's losers. They became winners because they had faith — a wonderful quality that will serve you again and again.

MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T MARRY YOUR FIANCE

DR. WALLACE: I'm 20 and have been dating Zack steadily for about two years. We love each other and plan to be married next year. Before I dated Zack, I had been dating Phil, but I broke up with him because I felt I cared more about him than he cared about me.

Even though we have gone our separate ways, I still enjoy keeping in touch with Phil just to see how he is doing. This really bothers Zack because he knows I used to care for Phil. Phil's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and I would like to send him a small gift. If I do, this will cause Zack to be very upset with me. I don't think this is fair. I care about Phil as a friend and I have no romantic interest in him whatsoever. What should I do? — Confused, Memphis, Tenn.

CONFUSED: Forget about Phil and focus all your energy on your fiance. If you find this difficult, then you had better ponder seriously whether you really want to get married.

Old flames should be completely extinguished before you consider marrying someone else!

MY BROTHER JUST LAUGHS AT ME

DR. WALLACE: My older brother has been hanging out with real creeps. For the past two weeks, they've been watching X-rated videos. I don't know who owns them, but I know they don't belong to my brother. I told him to stop bringing these things into our house, but he just laughs at me. He's supposed to be in charge of my little sister and me, but I have to spend two hours entertaining my sister so she doesn't wander downstairs and see something she shouldn't. I'm afraid if I tell my parents they will really come down hard on him. What should I do? — Angry, Reno, Nev.

ANGRY: Nobody wants to feel like a snitch, especially when dealing with a sibling, but what your brother is doing is very wrong. Warn him one more time and if he fails to heed your advice, tell your parents about his "extracurricular" activities.

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. Email 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.