DR. WALLACE: I'm a recent high school graduate, and I just started taking a couple of classes at a local community college. I'm 19 and not sure yet what to do with my life regarding a career path.

There are several areas I have interest in, but none of them seem to be strong enough for me to see a clear decision as to what I would like to ultimately do. This is why I'm attending a community college, so I can take different courses on different subjects to get a feel for what each potential industry might be like. These classes are fine, but some of them are a bit repetitive and even boring.

I'll definitely finish this semester and maybe even one more, but I'd sure like to develop other ways to consider my eventual career path. How do you advise teenagers who have graduated high school to make decisions about their future career? — Currently Figuring It Out, via email

CURRENTLY FIGURING IT OUT: I believe strongly in personal connections, or what has often been called "pressing the flesh." This means making direct personal contact with people, shaking their hands, and explaining to them who you are and what you're trying to accomplish. It's definitely a form of networking but an often overlooked subset. Many people can work online, via sending out dozens or even hundreds of resumes and so forth. But being able to meet various professionals in various work environments in person, speak to them and ask questions about what the career and jobs are typically like is truly invaluable. You may find at the community college level that some of the professors are actually career professionals in their field.

You can approach some of them after class and ask for introductions or referrals to others who work in industries you might like to explore further. There may be paid or unpaid internships available, which would give you further insight into various potential careers and their related entry-level jobs.

Beyond community college, speak to as many adults as you possibly can. Start with family and friends, aunts, uncles, grandparents and anyone you know in the community who works even remotely in a field you might like to look at. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many people will go out of their way to help you or give you exposure to learning more about a particular future job you may wish to pursue. The key is to be friendly, smile and directly ask for the assistance. You can, of course, say "subject to your time availability" or "at a time that would be convenient for you."

Most full-time career professionals are open to mentoring a young person who is earnestly seeking to learn more and perhaps pursue a career in their given field.

MY FRIEND'S FATHER SAYS IT'S BECAUSE OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS

DR. WALLACE: I'm a guy, I have a really good friend, and we both play sports at our high school. My friend's dad is a really good guy, and I'm close to him as well.

The other day the topic came up of how expensive it is for us 18-year-olds to get car insurance these days. My friend's father said it's because too many of our peers abuse alcohol and take drugs, so this drives up the insurance rates for everyone our age.

But when my friend and I discussed it later, after practice, we both agreed that we don't see too many of our peers drinking alcohol or taking drugs, so perhaps there is another reason why our insurance rates might be so high. Do you think it's mainly because of drug and alcohol abuse? We're in the process of getting part-time jobs so we can pay for our own insurance and borrow our parents' cars. — We Wish Rates Were Lower, via email

WE WISH RATES WERE LOWER: There's no doubt that alcohol use and drug use are factors in why insurance rates are high these days, but that's something that applies across the board to all drivers, not just specifically teenage drivers or young drivers under 25 years of age.

To answer your question directly, the main reason why insurance rates are higher for young drivers is simply inexperience. Think of it as young drivers learning "on the job" and still developing their driving habits, decisions and so forth. After many years of driving, experience kicks in, and drivers are better able to control their vehicle and themselves, and to read traffic ahead of them and around them better.

Part of the reason this is so true is that due to inexperience, many young drivers drive too fast. Speeding not only leads to a high number of fatal teen-driver automobile crashes, but you may be surprised to learn that speed is the No. 1 reason for these fatalities. The number of teen drivers who speed surpasses the number teen drivers that drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or even the number of those who don't or won't wear a seatbelt.

Driving with excessive speed is often born out of inexperience and not understanding the distance needed to stop a vehicle in time to avoid collisions. Here's a quick statistic to consider: Government tests of automobiles hitting solid posts and walls were done at 35 mph and recorded in terms of the resulting energy the crashes created. Once the speed was doubled to 70 mph, the amount of energy involved in crashes was seen to quadruple! Needless to say, speed kills, and the inexperience of young drivers is definitely the main reason why automobile insurance rates for those in your present generation are decidedly higher than those for the rest of the population.

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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