Be Good. Be Orange.

Submitted by Carly Quiring
Be Independent. Be Orange
What does it mean to Be Orange? If one were to ask any student, alumni, or faculty personnel this question the answer would change person to person. Each person who has ever been or is a part of the OSU community has collected their own experience and developed their own definition of what it means to Be Orange. Whether their experience was good or bad, either way a certain set of values is taken away that now defines who that person is before OSU. The value I’ve developed while being an OSU student is independence and along with that a sense of self.
To be independent is to be able to rely, trust, and believe in yourself with each decision you make. As my independence blossomed I began to discover more about myself. I came to OSU because I wanted an experience I knew I wouldn’t be able to get if I stayed and went to college in my hometown. I left because I wanted to explore what it was like to be on my own and to be able to make my own decisions without my parents hovering over my shoulder. Once I got here all I wanted to do was leave because I missed the comfort of home, but now that almost 3 years have gone by I can honestly say that I’m glad I stayed.
College is a whole learning experience, where one can learn not only the skills to excel in a particular career but where one can also learn about what kind of person they want to be. I would like to think that OSU would appreciate being involved in not only helping their students learn what they want to do but also learn who they want to be. Because there is a big difference between what you do and who you are. OSU is associated with many values but whether or not every student leaves with those same values depends on the experience. Leadership, honesty, integrity and pride are just some of the many values the OSU community associates itself with. These are all good values to carry but not values that I’ve learned solely at OSU. I’ve learned these values throughout my life experiences with people and through other situations but my value for independency is strongly linked to my time at OSU.
For myself, I’ve learned that I have to rely, trust and believe that the decisions I make for myself will benefit me in some way or another. I’ve learned a lot of who I am as a person through the relationships I’ve built here at OSU. Who I thought would be the love of my life turned out to be a broken heart but also the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far. I came to the conclusion that I needed to be okay with letting this person go and since I’ve made that decision, although difficult, I trust and believe that it was the right one. I’ve learned what I will tolerate from other people based off of what I know I deserve. If I didn’t stay at OSU I think it would have taken me longer to learn this valuable lesson. I carry this lesson with every new and old relationship I have. In learning more about myself I’ve learned that loving myself before I let other people in is a value in and of itself that I believe to be the most important value anyone can obtain. One could claim that this represents the ethics of care and I would agree. Since being at OSU I’ve learned that having compassion for myself fuels what makes me independent and able to trust myself. And because I am compassionate for myself it makes it easier for me to have compassion for others experiencing times that are difficult because they too are learning their own lessons and their own values that make them the person they were meant to be.
Works Cited
1. “Leadership.” Strategic Plan. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/strategicplan/