This past Monday, I became an American citizen along with 60 strangers, altogether representing 31 countries. Again, “melting pot” etched its way across my mind, reminding me that identification comes in the form of a shared or inspired human experience, not the flesh that portrays it.

Most of the time, the worst that comes of those extra shots is an embarrassing moment or an inside joke from another time at Smoke’s. Yet all too often, the results are on a much larger scale.

Food is an integral part of the open rush process for both genders. This past week, fraternities and sororities each served up a different plat du jour, subliminally reinforcing their specific dose of gender stereotyping in such choices.

“Girls‘” approach to sex is not only genuine — sometimes a little messy, sometimes a little kinky — but also definitively feminine.

Recent studies demonstrated that self-compassion is a more effective motivator for self-improvement than self-esteem.

I had never thought of the coffee I drank every morning as something exotic. I thought every country would have it, every bodega. I’d depended on it, really — I wasn’t prepared to go without it.

The sad truth seems to be that we need a tragedy to occur in order to mobilize change.

Creating a core curriculum could help with basic deficiencies in people’s knowledge and give the College of Arts and Sciences an identity.

With Pell Grants, tax credits, federal direct loans and other aids, the federal government has accomplished the exact opposite of its stated goal — it has made a college education dramatically more costly.

Certainly, it is troubling to read of robberies occurring one after the other. But the proximity of the two shouldn’t be cause for concern.

My exercise was limited to taking the stairs to my room in lieu of the elevator — and I live on the second floor. The weather had started to turn chilly and hot yoga didn’t sound so bad after all.

We aren’t addicted to our iPhones per se — rather, we literally love them, as we would a spouse or parent.

Ali and Hayley here, and after a semester traipsing across the pond, we’re back!

No child, man or woman should be a political football — especially in a time of fragility and mourning — but there comes a point when a political conversation is necessary.

Although we fear staying in college for more than four years and falling behind, I invite you to consider taking a gap year and time out for yourself.

This is my last column for The Daily Pennsylvanian. My goal for ‘The Ernest Opinion’ was to make you think and speak.

Religious organizations are fundamental to the fabric of American life, not because they establish “a moral compass” for the country, as many would attest to, but because they provide the country with a plethora of social services.