Be Good. Be Orange.

Madelyn Miller

PHL 205

Be Orange. Be a contribution.

To me, being orange means being a contribution. Not just any contribution, but one that is positive and welcoming by nature. The act of contribution involves individuals, peers, communities and the world in general. With the act of contribution being so all encompassing, it is hard to see how our orange community could have an influence on the world through contribution; however, I argue that without the contributions bestowed upon us by the people around us we would be less successful. This is why it is important for an orange OSU student to be receptive to contributing to the world. In other words, I would hope that if you are going to be Orange, you are respectful to the fact that your success is not entirely your own doing. I think it is only when we can recognize how influential others have been on our lives that we begin to feel the importance in imparting the same type of contribution to others.  When I say others, I am not specifically referring to only one’s peers or fellow OSU affiliates. Instead, in order to be orange and to contribute, one should bestow this type of contribution onto everyone around them, both literally and figuratively. I hope that when someone is given a degree from Oregon State University, they understand the endless possibilities within their own agency to affect the people around them, and not just their ability to better themselves.

Unfortunately within our generation I have to admit that not all people come to universities with the hopes to contribute to their surroundings. It seems to me that a lot of students around the nation see higher education as a necessity in order to make money or be happy as individuals. This is unfortunate to me, because I know that our opportunity to have higher education is a privilege. I spent time in South America, where I realized the immense amount of people who would do almost anything to have the education that we are given in the United States. The realization that I am in a position that I should feel privileged to be in makes me understand my duty to contribute my knowledge and passions that I have gained in my time at Oregon State University to the best of my ability.

My passion is working within the health field. As a pre-medicine undergraduate, with a focus on public health and a minor in Spanish, I feel that my goals provide for a clear potential path. As my time as an undergrad student comes to a close, I am confident that I want to work with people who are unrepresented within the health field, such as the immigrant community. The university has given me so many amazing opportunities to explore my interests and begin to comprehend my passion. I hope this realization of incredible privilege also exists for my peers. I think that Oregon State University has a unique way of helping people find their passions. With the wide variety of required baccore courses, I would attest that majority of graduating four-year students have an idea of what they are passionate about; some may even have a concrete path towards the utilization of their passions. With this said, I would hope that someone who has graduated from our university seeks out ways to use their degree and passions in a beneficial and productive way. To be productive in your contribution, I believe that an Oregon State student, who wants to be Orange, needs to see their education as a significant privilege that gives them the ability to share what they have learned and accumulated form their experiences here to the world. If you are not using your knowledge and sharing it with the world, how significant can you argue that your time at Oregon State University really was?

As previously stated, I am aware that some people see higher education as something they are entitled to, and something they seek to only benefit themselves. What the university needs to instill in students is that our education is not entitlement to success. In order to have success and be Orange, one must be humble in his or her experiences here. Jumping to the conclusion that having a degree gives you superiority over others in the world gives an image of egocentric pride in one’s own knowledge. Once you see yourself as a part of a whole, vs. something that can stand alone, you start to see the profit behind contributing to others. This comes back to my Orange statement; when you make a positive contribution centered on your knowledge and experiences from OSU, you are Orange.

If Oregon State University’s community members choose to share their knowledge and make a positive contribution to the surroundings, they will in return create and become part of new communities. Once you seek a community or try to draw people into your ideas, there is soon a larger body of individuals who are gaining from your knowledge. When you are contributing on a community-based level, you are embodying the morals behind the purpose of contribution. Once this happens, there becomes a level of responsibility and accountability that you hold within your community. That duty of beneficence combined with accountability provides for a moral obligation to contribute to others.

In conclusion, I think that someone is Orange when they see it as a moral obligation to contribute positively to their community and surroundings. An Orange person is someone who can be successful in his or her academia, yet understands his or her role in society as a privilege. They would be accountable to use their knowledge and experiences from their time at Oregon Sate University in a way that benefits a larger pool of knowledge and would be receptive to being a part of the whole vs. seeking individual success. Someone who is Orange contributes to not only their peers but also to people who are underrepresented, or different from them, because they understand that their success relies on the collective knowledge and success of others who may or may not be similar to them. I am Orange; I do my best to contribute with passion and conviction for the benefit of all the people within my reach.