Authentic Orange

Submitted by Geoffrey Bishop

Congrats! You graduated High School and are now on your way to Oregon State University. I can assure you that you have made the right choice of schools in the State of Oregon! Before you get Corvallis, I’d like to give you a few pointers on how to “Be Orange!” We want you to be as authentic as you can and this intro to OSU will help you do that!

You might be asking yourself, “What does it mean to authentically Be Orange?” In a recent publication from Stanford, “The term ‘authentic’ is used… in a weaker sense of being ‘faithful to an original’ or a ‘reliable, accurate representation’” (Varga, Somogy. “Authenticity.”). So, the easiest way to be “authentic” is to be you. Oregon State is a great place to find out who you are by exploring the many options and experiences of this great University.

While we want you to be yourself, we also want you to have school spirit and follow in our motto, “Be Orange!” A few steps on how to “Be Orange” is as follows:

Step One: Wear orange! If you don’t already have some of our awesome Beaver gear, head on over to the OSU Bookstore to pick some up.

Step Two: Cheer for the Beavers! Some of the best memories in college are from sporting events. Standing in the rain, wind blowing in your face, drunken guy falling into you, all while watching your Beavers fight for another win! That’s the dream!

If you haven’t been to a sporting event yet, then you haven’t heard our student section and their many cheers! Learning those makes anyone a sports lover.

Step Three: Make new friends! Oregon State University is one of the friendliest places and everyone is just waiting to be your friend.

Some of the best ways to make new friends is by joining some of our clubs. We have everything from farming, to business, to music, to sports! There is a club for everyone here.

Step Four: Enjoy yourself! You may only be her for a couple of years and after those 4 years… 5 years… 6 years… (I hope you’re in your masters by now), you’ll remember what it meant to you to “Be Orange”!

Step Five: Go to class! Although you’re supposed to enjoy yourself, you need to attend class to be able to relax.

If you start skipping, soon all those missed assignments or clicker points will add up and so will your stress. The expression, “Work Hard, Play Hard” actually comes in handy. If you set a goal for yourself to effectively work for 2-4 hours and get something done, then go out for dinner or hang with friends, I guarantee you will enjoy yourself a lot more.

Looking back at the Five steps on “How to Be Orange”, you’ll notice they all circle around the idea of getting outside and meeting someone new at a sporting event or in class. Over the course of my time here, I learned that to “Be Orange” I just needed to be happy and smile on campus (For some others, “Be Orange” involves drinking. That’s their choice). One last piece of advice is to ask questions. Not only in class but also in life. School will teach you what you need to know for a career, but the people around you will teach you how to live and isn’t living what life is all about? Have Fun and Welcome to Beaver Nation!

Work Cited

Varga, Somogy. “Authenticity.” Stanford University. Stanford University, 11 Sept. 2014.