DR. WALLACE: I'm in my first year of college and really like a guy in one of my classes. He's really good-looking and easygoing, but I don't get the chance to talk to him very much outside of class. Whenever we do talk, though, he always mentions how much he loves surfing. I know he's a member of the surfing club we have at school and he spends a lot of his time taking trips to the beach with other club members. Of course, he hangs out with a lot of other surfers all the time, both male and female.

To be honest, I'm not a big beach person and have never enjoyed going into the ocean. Never in my life have I been interested in surfing, but now I'm wondering if I should join my school's surfing club so that I can spend more time around this guy and hopefully attract his attention. Am I crazy to think this way? I know the idea may sound silly, but I'm pretty enamored with him and would be willing to do almost anything that's tasteful and reasonable to get to know him more. — Seeking a connection, via email

SEEKING A CONNECTION: If your only reason for joining the surfing club is to be around your new crush, I advise against joining. There are other ways you can get to know this young man aside from feigning interest in something in which you are admittedly uninterested. Invite him to hang out with you and your friends sometime after class, or attempt to spark more conversation with him when you do see him.

If you haven't already, I also encourage you to get involved with a club or activity in which you are interested. Invest yourself in the things you love and enjoy doing, and be open to meeting new people along the way. I know right now your affinity for this particular guy is high, but don't get trapped into thinking that you must only seek to make things work between the two of you. Relationships are most often born from natural and genuine connections rather than contrived and calculated efforts. Be yourself and pursue your own interests, and I'm confident that you will run into other equally desirable young men along the way.

I HEAR A BABY CRYING ALL NIGHT!

DR. WALLACE: We now have new neighbors who moved into our neighborhood just two doors down about a week and a half ago. The houses in our neighborhood are really close together, so we have kind of a tight community of neighbors that we've known for a long time. These new neighbors don't have any kids my age, unfortunately; I'm 14. But I have noticed that they do have a baby.

It's been pretty hot most nights when I go to bed, so I usually leave my bedroom window open all night. I think my bedroom is close to where this baby's room is because I can loudly hear the baby crying and crying all throughout the night.

Eventually, I fall to sleep, but anytime I wake up, I still hear the baby crying. I've told my parents that I hear the baby crying at night and they both basically told me to mind my own business and just ignore it. Should I say something to the neighbors if I see them in our neighborhood? — Kept up at night, via email

KEPT UP AT NIGHT: Babies indeed do cry often, and you should do your best to soundproof your room as much as you can. Fortunately, we are now heading into the fall and the weather should turn cooler, which will hopefully allow you to close your window to reduce the baby's sound waves. If it's still a bit warm, ask your parents to allow you to use an inexpensive, small fan in your room at night. This will not only keep your room a bit cooler but the hum of the fan may help to drown out the sounds coming from outside your house.

And as far as saying something to your neighbors when you do see them, I fully agree you should speak up! But the conversation I'd advise would be one of greeting them to your neighborhood, introducing yourself and perhaps letting them know you'd possibly be interested in helping them with some babysitting if they ever need it — assuming you'd like to do this to earn some money and gain some work experience. Of course, you should discuss the babysitting idea with your parents first before you bring that subject up.

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: Free-Photos at Pixabay