DR. WALLACE: I broke up with my boyfriend because of his continuing cocaine use. He kept telling me he was in complete control of his drug habit and could quit anytime he wanted to. But for months and months, when I asked him when he planned to quit, his standard answer was, "At the moment, I don't choose to stop using." This literally went on the whole entire time we were seeing each other — nearly a year.

Whenever I told him to face the reality that he was addicted to cocaine, he would get upset and angry. He firmly believed he was in control of his drug use and even to this day, he considers himself to be a recreational user, not an addict. You'll be happy to know, Dr. Wallace, that I've used this time period of social distancing to "distance" myself from this guy. I explained that I felt our relationship was going nowhere due to his drug use and that I had to take time now to take care of my family during our national crisis. — Have Moved On, via email

HAVE MOVED ON: According to many studies I've read over the decades, your ex's behavior was indicative of a person who is addicted to drugs. I agree that it was best for you to move on, and I commend you for putting your family's health as your top priority.

TAKE YOUR PARENTS UP ON THEIR OFFER

DR. WALLACE: My parents are both in the hotel business, and they want me to follow in their footsteps. They had me enroll at a prestigious Midwestern university because it has an outstanding curriculum in hotel management.

My problem is I'm really not sure I want to study hotel management. I'm kind of leading toward becoming a math or science teacher, but my parents won't hear of this! In fact, they told me if I didn't take hotel management as my major, they would not pay my college tuition. Since I can't even pay for a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, I'll either wind up in the hotel management business or I won't go to college at all.

Right now, I'm leaning toward working and forgetting about college for the near future. What would you suggest I do? — Feeling Controlled, via email

FEELING CONTROLLED: The good news is that your first two years of college are to be filled with general courses that will apply to almost all major areas of study. It is in your later years that you would plan to take more advanced courses in a specific major. I feel a good compromise for your present situation would be to thank your parents for their generous offer and tell them you will work on getting your general education courses completed and take an introduction class or two within the general field of hotel management.

This will accomplish two valuable things. One, you will be honoring your parents wishes to give hotel management a try. You may find it more interesting than you expect. And during these first two years, you will be able to complete many general education courses you'll need to graduate, no matter what major you settle on.

Now, if you give hotel management an honest try and still prefer to major in mathematics or science, you can have a heart-to-heart discussion with your parents at that time. I trust that if you sincerely gave their wishes a try, they will continue to support you with your education. If for some reason they don't, you can speak to a counselor and several of your professors about ideas on how you may be able to apply for financial aid or a scholarship that could help you. Another option would be to work part time and take fewer classes each semester, even though it will take you a little longer that way to reach your goal of a college diploma.

Hopefully, it won't come to that, but it would be best for you to have a well-thought-out game plan either way. Over time, your parents could change their minds and allow you to pursue a career you're interested in.

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 rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. 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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