DR. WALLACE: I'm 17, and I absolutely love music and would like to make a career in the music industry. Most of the time, a teenager saying what I'm saying would be a budding artist, songwriter or performer trying to make it or break big nationally.

But that's not my story. Even though I can strum a few chords on a guitar and hold a reasonable tune with my singing voice, I have no illusions about becoming a music sensation, rock star or country music hero. Instead, I would love to have a valuable job somewhere in the music industry. I feel that if I can do this, it might feel like I never had to work a day in my life because I would be doing what I enjoy all day long.

How do I best go about this so that I can try to follow my dream? Hopefully you'll find my idea more realistic than just another teenager who thinks he's going to make it big writing the next big hit song. — Music Is My Soul, via email

MUSIC IS MY SOUL: Start locally and try to work your way up from there. See if you can volunteer to help a local music-related business in some form or fashion. Do some research in your area to find out where music venues exist and where live music is played. There you can attend some shows and network with various people. Search for recordings in your area; the same is true there. You can volunteer to assist or see if they have any entry-level jobs. Seek out local bands in your area to see if they need any help with publicity, marketing, distributing flyers or helping pack their equipment. Once again, you'll be able to build connections and sample different work experiences at your young age.

Finally, start right now researching where you could study the music industry after you graduate from high school. There may be vocational school opportunities, community college courses or four-year universities that offer various interesting segments of the music industry that you may wish to learn about. It's great that you already know that you're so passionate in this field, so I strongly encourage you to garner as much experience as you can as soon as you can.

I'M WORRIED THAT I WON'T MEASURE UP TO ELITE PROFESSORS

DR. WALLACE: I'm a recent graduate of a very small-town high school; only 2,000 people live in our entire city.

I'll be attending a rather large university four hours away from here this fall, and I'm concerned about how I will deal with the different professors who teach there. In my high school career, almost all the teachers were local people, or those who lived in our county, very near our community. They had similar backgrounds and upbringings to mine, so I never gave a second thought about relating to the teachers.

But now I feel a bit concerned and perhaps even intimidated because the various professors at my new university literally come from around the world, and many of these men and women have extremely impressive resumes, work experiences and status.

How can I best relate to and interact with professors that I feel will definitely be out of my league? I've always been a good student, pretty diligent with good work habits, but I'm concerned I may not measure up with the instructors or fellow students at this major university. What can I do to best prepare myself for what I'm about to face? — An Apprehensive New Freshman, via email

AN APPREHENSIVE NEW FRESHMAN: My initial piece of advice is to take a deep breath, exhale slowly and relax. This is actually great news for you because you were admitted to a great school with an outstanding faculty, and this means you'll be receiving a world-class education, so consider yourself fortunate.

Please remember that every instructor is there because they seek to relate to students, teach new generations and make the world a better place. Do your part by paying close attention, asking good questions and interacting with these teachers occasionally during their office hours rather than being too intimidated to build any kind of relationship with them.

I realize that going in for your first few days and weeks, you're going to feel out of place, but I trust that within your first month as a student you're going to feel much better and far more comfortable than you did in your earliest days.

This is a great life lesson as well. We all need to learn to face new exciting opportunities and stretch our thinking and our confidence in our own capabilities. Although I haven't met you, based on your acceptance to this university, I trust you are absolutely equipped to have an excellent college career, so get after it with at least mild confidence right from the start.

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.

Photo credit: Geo Chierchia at Unsplash