Authentic Orange

Submitted by Angus Owan Jr.

One of the most complementary sayings that goes with almost every new encounters is, “Don’t worry, just be yourself”. Whether it be meeting a new friend, moving to someplace new, or shaking the president’s hand (maybe not the last one). However, within one moment of our lives we all have gone through encounters that make us nervous, terrified, and uncomfortable. The term authentic coincides with another common saying such as, “be yourself”. On literal terms authentic means not fake, verified, real, etc. So basically if a random person yells to you to “Be Orange,” in authentic terms they are implying that you should be who you truly are. Every time you do something, question yourself if this is truly what you would do. It could be what you wear, how you speak, or how you act. Anything related to yourself, question if (insert your name here) would do this. One of the most significant aspects I’ve learned about being here at Oregon State is that we are allowed to be authentic. We are allowed to be our own individual. We are allowed to truly express ourselves without any judgment or bias directed towards anyone.

When a phrase like, “Be Orange” is brought around to my concern I see it as being who you truly are, be authentic. Corvallis is a community where everyone matters whilst being welcoming to anyone and everyone’s individualism. However, there are obstacles in obtaining authenticity as many philosophers have different terms for this obstacle. Nietzsche calls it, “The Herd” which is basically the same as following what everyone is doing (Lecture 5/5/15). This can become an obstacle in being authentic due to the fact that “The Herd,” could be doing something completely opposite to what you would do. Yet, you will find yourself doing these things because you’re so caught up with “The Herd”. For example, you could be at a party finding yourself drinking and trying to blend in with everyone. However, in all actuality you could possibly hate beer and alcohol in general. Peer pressure adds to this obstacle as it makes us decide whether or not to be authentic. Another example of this obstacle is when Dan came in dressed in a suit (Lecture 5/28/15). I questioned myself as to why he would dress that way. He usually comes in with shorts and a shirt but on that day he came to prove a point. As he took off the suit he revealed that he had his normal clothes underneath them. He used the suit as a symbol to show how everyone (“The Herd”) expects people to come to work. Yet, Dan defies this obstacle everyday by dressing how he wants to because he is his own person, his own individual.

Being authentic is easy to say yet hard to do. Sometimes we become inauthentic in order to please other people. Perfect examples of this are college students. Some college students simply go to college to please others such as their friends or family. Rather than pursuing the future the student wants they could be doing a certain major just to satisfy their parents or others. Gregor in The Metamorphosis is an example of this (Kafka, The Metamorphosis, pg. 1). Gregor doesn’t enjoy his job at all yet he continues it everyday to support his family. In the case of Gregor, he is being inauthentic to himself. He is his own individual just like everyone else and should make his own decisions. Being inauthentic is also known as having bad faith (Lecture 5/26/15). The term “Bad Faith,” means that we deny our own transcendence and do actions just to blend in and feel accepted. Having bad faith in one-self is an obstacle that troubles basically everyone in their daily lives. It could be as complicated as playing a role in one’s job or as simple as procrastination. Overcoming these obstacles is key to becoming authentic here at Oregon State University.

How do we overcome these obstacles you ask? Be yourself. It’s as simple as that. Take risks or “leaps of faith” in order to reach your own state of authenticity (Lecture 4/23/15). No body has the answers except yourself. Do things you want to do and don’t let anyone influence your decisions. College is the perfect place to find out who you are because we have to come to the realization that we are adults now. If you want to party and have fun then so be it. If you want to study hard and get awesome grades than strive for it. You want to do both? Why not. As long as you make that decision with the confidence that you really want to pursue that path then you are being yourself, being authentic, being your own individual. Many paths open up once we become an adult yet no one is going to make the decision for us. You don’t need to follow the herd to be cool or accepted. “Being Orange” is all about being real to yourself here at OSU. Be your own individual. Existentialism is about finding who we truly are and who we want to be. So take this knowledge on being authentic and be YOU! (P.S. GO BEAVERS!)

Submitted by Eric Nygren

Here at Oregon State University the students, faculty and alumni pride themselves on their effort to “Be Orange”. However, many people have different opinions on what it means to authentically “Be Orange”. For some people, being orange means showing up to as many sporting events as possible to support the school’s athletic teams. For others, being orange means becoming involved in the many extracurricular opportunities offered at Oregon State. Can either be said to be the one authentic way to “Be Orange”? Let us start by defining what authenticity is, before applying this concept to the idea of being orange.

What is authenticity? Authenticity, simply put, is truth. Truth has been said to be “A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms” (Nietszche, Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense). The act of being true to one’s own self defines an authentic person. Thereby, a person who is authentically being orange is one to whom being orange is their true self, or at least part of their true self. However, as Nietzsche puts it: “Man has an invincible inclination to allow himself to be deceived.” (Nietzsche, Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense). There are those out there who have allowed themselves to think that what they are doing to “Be Orange” is authentic to them, when in reality it is not. An example of this might be if someone goes to a football game to cheer on Oregon State, even though they do not particularly enjoy sporting events and do not care for football at all. They would be denying their own facticity by supporting a program they care nothing about, a form of bad faith (Lecture 5/26/15). Alternatively, they could also have shown bad faith by denying their own transcendence if they had told themselves the reason they were going was because they actually enjoy the sporting event, since it benefits the university (Lecture 5/26/15). If that same person were to be authentic to themselves, they would not have gone to the sporting event and instead maybe have gone to a club meeting, or done some other activity which would have benefitted the university just as much.

Now comes the question of how one may authentically “Be Orange”. It appears to be generally accepted within the community at Oregon State that to “Be Orange” means to show support for the university and its programs. In this way, it could be said that being orange refers to performing an action which directly benefits the school. How does one authentically provide benefit to Oregon State University? There are many different ways to do so, a few of which have already been mentioned. In addition to these, other possible ways to “Be Orange” include: monetary donations to the university, participating in an event which brings notoriety and respect to the university and its programs, providing scholarship money to individuals attending Oregon State, and lastly being a successful and well-respected alumnus within society so as to bring recognition through one’s own actions.

All of the aforementioned ways to “Be Orange” are certainly ways that any person may accomplish, but in order for them to be authentic, they must be reflective of that person’s true self. If a person does not enjoy an action they take to “Be Orange” then they are not being authentic to themselves. A person must freely take actions to “Be Orange”, otherwise they are not holding themselves responsible to their authentic self.