Be Good. Be Orange.

Submitted by Tyler Day

Some people may ask, what does it mean to be orange? While there are many different answers to the question, I believe one must be proud in order to be orange. Some may feel that orange is just any ordinary color. However, when you look closer, you see the pride these students have for their school. One look at the student section in any sport will tell you what I see. These students have pride and passion in their school, and their yelling and cheering is just evidence that they do. Why would someone paint him or herself orange or wear bright orange? Around Corvallis the answer is usually because of OSU. Here at OSU not only do we have pride in our sports, even though we may not be the best at all of them, but we also have pride in our academics. Even if I see orange outside of school, I feel the pride of being a part of the OSU community because it is a great place to be and grow.
The other day I saw a kid walking through campus with a packet in hand, and he was smiling ear-to-ear shaking that packet. Now we can assume that he did well on a paper or test, and that happiness flying through the air really spreads a positive vibe throughout. That is what I would love to see, because I would love to see there be more pride going around about the academics. When a lot of people think of college, they usually think of frat parties, and (around here) football. I think that more pride and attention should be towards education, since we are here to get a degree and ready ourselves for the world outside of the classroom. However, when I say people should put more pride in their school work I am not saying everyone should go around the campus bragging about the A they got on their physics test. It wouldn’t be the best idea if everyone were egoistic, because then that could lead to putting other students or schools down. I believe in some utilitarianism actions, which is to find what does the largest amount of good, and that is to not only be prideful in ones work, but also find pride in others. I don’t think it’s a good idea to put others down for not being the best at what they do. Instead people should show pride in how their community breaks through educational barriers or growth in academics. Showing pride in one’s fellow students is just as showing growth in one’s self. And I believe OSU does just that. I feel like the pride that OSU shows, in not only their athletics, but also in their academics really shows that we as a school have real pride, and that it why I think that being orange is also being full of pride.