Be Good. Be Orange.

In a university as large as Oregon State, it sometimes feels as though any one student is just a drop of water in an Oregon rainstorm. Everyone rushing from class to class, just trying to get through their own day; but what if everyone was to notice the struggles of their classmates, their community, or of their students? I believe that when anyone in our community pauses their own busy life to feel sympathy for another, or tries to help a stranger, they are acting on compassion. This sympathy and act can be as simple as picking up books after someone drops them, or can be as significant as donating countless hours to an organization that helps community members that are less fortunate.

As a psychology student I see the need for compassion in my studies and life every day. While other OSU students in a different major or community members may see being orange as a way to show school pride during sports or possibly meaning working hard on a degree to get a good future job. To me showing compassion for others is what it truly means to be orange.

The Oregon State strategic plan identifies the core value of respect, which can be simply defined as showing appreciation for someone. However, I think that just respecting the value of someone is not sufficient to create a caring atmosphere. I believe that creating a compassionate environment at OSU, where the struggles of life are met with sympathy and the desire to better the lives of others is a legacy that our current generation of community members should strive to fulfill. If the OSU community were to create a compassionate environment for everyone, I believe that everyone would benefit from it; there would be more acceptance for individuals who do not have the same life experiences as each other, there would be more of an open dialogue between students and community leaders, as well as less of a struggle for any one community member as it would be distributed among several other individuals who simply want to help another.

In closing, as a community we may not know everyone who currently is needing compassion, but we can always be compassionate to one another day in and day out, to create a caring atmosphere that will be our legacy for OSU generations to come.