My name is Sarah Hale. I edit the Opinions section of this newspaper. Since 2005, I’ve written many of the paper’s editorials, from sonnets to diatribes to simple reflections on student life.

Now, I’m graduating-and with roughly 160 anonymous editorials down and two to go, I figure it’s time for a byline.

Here is some advice, just for you, hand-plucked from the bingo tumbler of my memory.

Live. Really live. Life is a thrilling, precarious balance between strong, opposing forces. The dynamic between these forces produces change, which produces growth, which is life.

Love actively. Real love isn’t about security. Real love is about growth. Choose to challenge and care for a handful of people that mean the most to you.

Fail. In failing, you will come to know the full strength of your capabilities. Analyze failures, learn from them, drop them and relish getting up again.

Push yourself.

Learn to be completely independent. Do your chores. Get a few jobs. For one week, use only your feet to get around. For one year, save 15 percent of each paycheck you earn. Strive to give more to your friends than you take away. Set big goals and teeter toward them.

Take control of your own life; never try to control somebody else’s. You drive your own train. Walk tall. Throw your shoulders back. Think noble thoughts. What you think, you become.

Your intuition is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Temper it with reason, and you’re good to go.

Shower. Floss. Exercise. Drink enough water.

Appreciate your city. Walk to the Gateway Arch, Forest Park or Tower Grove. Take the bus to South Grand. Take the MetroLink to the Delmar Loop. Vote in local elections. Volunteer at a clinic or tutor at an elementary school. St. Louis is a city with a lot of character, and you are part of that character.

Take a weekend trip. Drive to some small town in Missouri and eat breakfast at a diner. Drive the 800 miles from St. Louis to Baltimore on Interstate 70 on some lazy Sunday. Drive to the ocean with a Dutch exchange student the weekend before finals and make it back in time for 10 p.m. Mass. Adventure is worth the risk.

Spend 10 minutes every morning thinking about the universe.

Flirt.

Stick up for yourself. Self-respect and confidence are not optional; they are pre-requisite for every endeavor, private or public, that you will ever make. Never hurt yourself. Realize that you are fallible and get over it. Choose to place trust in yourself, then back that trust with your integrity.

Make your own rules. Power is a tricky structure that exists in part to order and in part to exploit. If those in power have solid motivations, aid them. If they have rotten motivations, overthrow them. If you are in a position of power, be benevolent but firm.

Call your grandmother. Adopt a pet. Keep house guests. Stay up late. Get up early.

And don’t forget to live.

Sarah Hale is a senior graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the Opinions and Editorials editor of The University News.