DEAR JEWEL,

I?m currently studying in a prestigious university known for its great programs and, yes, high tuition. Therefore, students are mostly from affluent families. I?m here on a full scholarship, and I can?t keep up with my classmates? lifestyles. I can?t very well party with them at Embassy, or study at Starbucks. Don?t get me wrong, they?re really nice people, and I am not embarrassed about my financial situation. It?s just that I want to hang out and be friends with them, too.

Minnie

Dear Minnie,

I am always in awe of students at top schools who are full scholars. Good for you! And it?s good that you don?t pretend you can afford what you can?t, because this is often the road to perdition. Once you start doing that, it?s all downhill from there.

Sweetheart, clubs aren?t all that anyway. Those are just dark places with blinking lights and loud music. If you really want my opinion, the kids going there are way too young to be showing that much skin and guzzling that much alcohol.

And for non-connoisseurs like me, coffee is coffee. It?s there to wake me up, and, frankly, whipped cream has bajillions of calories. You can go once or twice maybe, for the sake of experience (so you can have first-hand information about it), but not as a habit.

Not now, at least. There would be plenty of clubbing and coffee sessions and a whole lot more after graduation, believe you me.

If your classmates want to hang out with you, too, they will understand that you can?t spend the way they do. Study in the library, or party at friends? houses. Cheaper, safer, and there is less temptation.

Good luck on your studies,

Jewel

Married too soon?

Dear Jewel,

I?m 25, now happily married to my one and only boyfriend. We?ve been together for eight years now, and he?s the best. He?s the only guy I have ever been with, and sometimes I can?t help but think I missed out on some things. When my friends talk about their lives, it seems I didn?t experience enough before getting married. Now I?m hesitant to have a baby immediately. I might have married too soon.

Cindy

Dear Cindy,

People naturally have a certain degree of discontent. Why do we always want what the other table ordered, even though what?s in front of us is perfectly fine? A lot of people go through their lifetimes searching for what you have right now. Marriage isn?t a one-time purchase, anyway; it?s a going concern, much like buying a car. It needs some other things aside from your love for each other to make it work.

So you think your friends are having more fun than you. That?s good, be happy for them. But at the end of the day, after the parties are over and they threw up that last tequila shot, you?re the one who will lie in bed with the person who swore to be with you in sickness and in health, till death do you part.

If you don?t want to have children immediately, that?s okay. Enjoy being husband and wife first so you can enjoy being parents in the future more. Go out and have fun with your husband, and live vicariously through your friends. Don?t think that your social life would stop just because you got married. There will be boundaries to consider, of course.

Happiness is appreciating life,

Jewel