Be Good. Be Orange.

Submitted by: Sierra Land

People have been fighting for pride since the beginning of time.  What is it that drives us to be proud of something?  Perhaps it’s having something to be proud of.  When someone has nothing in this world to offer, they will always have their pride.  Pride is something that can’t be taken away, which is why people should value it.  When I hear the phrase “Be Orange” I assume it means to be proud of your school.  You can be proud of your school by doing things such as going to class, studying hard for exams, going to sporting events, and wearing school colors.  If this is true then I am the epitome of what being Orange is all about.  Looking deeper into the meaning, when you hear the word Orange you affiliate that with the school colors.  In this sense, being Orange means being a part of the school, the community of OSU, and beaver nation as a whole.

What does being a part of beaver nation mean?  It means that you attend a school whose goal is to improve the state, the country, and the world.  It means you go to a school that has the best looking females in the country.  It means you are being taught by the best professors in Oregon.  It means you are part of a community that loves to compete in sports.  It means you belong to a community that is driven by educating people so they can make the environment better.   The main focus of OSU is to advance, promote, and progress in areas of distinction.  I’m proud to be a part of this nation because I believe in making the world a better place.  A good theory to live by is to leave this world better than when you found it.

With pride comes respect.  You can show respect to yourself and to your school by doing your best work for your professors, and cheering as loud as you can at sporting events.  You get respect when you do these things and more.  People respect you if you go all out for something.  If you show pride in your work then you have something worth honoring.  If you cheer as loud as you can for your school at sporting events, then you are showing pride.  There is no feeling like being the part of the roar of the crowd at a football game after your team scores a touchdown.  Not to mention what happens before the game; all the laughter and good times being had while tailgating.  Being all you can be for your school is what being Orange is all about.

People show respect around school on a daily basis.  For instance, people hold the door open for someone that is right behind them.  This is a simple gesture and it normally follows with a quick “thank you.”  I’ve seen people return something that someone else just dropped.  I’ve witnessed several occasions when someone says “you forgot this” and then hands the person the thing they forgot.  I’ve seen students say “hi” to their classmates when they see them around campus, and because we are all good people we say “hello” back. All these things and more are how people at OSU show respect.

You can also show respect by understanding what it is that your professors are trying to teach you.  Don’t just go to class to earn the A.  Go to learn the material and the concepts that your professor is teaching.  The school entrusts the professors with their superior wisdom.  The students are at school to get more knowledge in the field of their choosing.  Therefore, it is only right for students to put their trust into learning everything their professors teach them.  Another key value is trust.  You need to trust that everything your professor is teaching you is beneficial to your learning.  You need to trust that you are paying for the proper education.  You need to trust that you are learning the skills necessary to be successful in life.

The system is not set up for you to only take classes in the area of your major.  Instead we are told to take baccalaureate classes that shape us into being well rounded individuals.  One can assume that means that we should gain knowledge not only in our field of study but other areas as well.  This notion leads us to believe that if you are a well-rounded individual you are ready for the real world and all real world situations.  That means that the more knowledge you have, the better off you are.  We trust that all the knowledge gained at a University is good knowledge and can be applied to real life situations.  I want to gain as much knowledge as I can while attending OSU because I can use that knowledge to be successful in life.  All of this may be true, but is being a well-rounded individual all we want from attending OSU?

When I graduate I want my degree to mean that I have all the knowledge and skills necessary to make the world a better place, especially in the field of Exercise and Sport Science.  I want it to mean that I made lots of memories at OSU that I can tell my grandkids.  It’s a common saying that college years are the best times of your life and if that’s true then I will have some great stories by the time I graduate.  I want it to mean that I have more education than any of my family members before me.  It means a lot when the next generation is more educated than the previous generation.  I want to hang my degree proudly and say that I was smart enough to achieve that.  I want to honor my degree by honoring everything I had to do to get the degree.

Another value that I affiliate with being Orange is success.  What I want most out of life is to be successful.  Sadly, one of the main ways people measure their successes is by how much money they make.  Sure I would love to make a lot of money but that shouldn’t be what makes me successful.  I measure my success by determining how far I have come and how much I have accomplished.  If I do what I set out to do then I will be successful.  If I obtain a degree from OSU and get into a career related to sports I will be successful.  If I improve the Science of Sport in any way I will be successful.  If I am kicking back with my dad overlooking Lake Tahoe from my condo then I know I am successful.

I am proud of my school.  I am proud to say that I attend Oregon State University.  I am proud of all the knowledge I’m learning. I am proud to be a beaver.  I respect my school, my professors, and my classmates.  I always strive for success.  I will one day be proud to say that I am successful.  I am Orange.

By Kyle West

Being an orange student at Oregon State University is preparing me to be successful in my future career within the construction industry.  Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose or the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.  Success is the value I chose because we all are aiming to be successful in life and our degree from OSU is our ticket to get there.  There is a reason why I attend this school because I know that success will follow after my time spent here at OSU.  As a student, I have gained knowledge, respect, and responsibility within the past two quarters that I’ve been attending our “be orange” institution.  Being orange not only defines us as students at OSU but also shows our strong values we have towards the university.  I believe that the education that I deserve and acquire here on campus is the stepping-stone in my lifetime that will set my future up for success.

Oregon State University is one of the top leading schools in the nation.  When we talk about success related to our school it could mean success in a few different ways.  Our university is successful because they have created an institution that thousands of young adults want to attend so they can leave here with a degree that means something to them and to the work force.  OSU also has some of the most successful and knowledgeable professors in the nation and as students we are lucky to be taught by such successful people.  OSU’s core values consist of accountability, diversity, integrity, respect, and social responsibility.  Our institution believes that apart of being orange relates to these five core values and I do agree with them, but success should be added to their list.  If I were an incoming student at OSU, success would be a core value that would catch my eye because every student wants to be successful within his or her time here at this university.  I want my degree to show that I am a hardworking individual and have accomplished something that many people don’t have the opportunity to do in their lives.  Without OSU I would not be orange and I believe that it would be much harder to become successful without graduating with a college degree.

Success not only means having a bright future but it also means being successful within my courses I take here at OSU.  From attending construction speaker meetings here at OSU, I’ve learned that top construction employers are looking for graduates from our school for promising careers and internships.  They believe that Oregon State University teaches the required courses that help develop our critical thinking skills in order to become successful within a certain company.  Many of the guest speakers at these meetings are OSU alumni and they have experienced within their company that OSU graduates are some of the top students they choose to become apart of their company.  Oregon State alumni also represent our university and their success reflects on our institution showing current students that your degree will set you up for a bright future.  Our degree shows that as students we have gained an amount of knowledge for us to be successful within a certain field.  Students take on a lot of responsibility towards earning their degrees and it shows that we are capable of difficult tasks and that we are efficient and dedicated learners.  With the knowledge that we have gained through courses here at OSU, employers know that we have put in hard work and dedication so that we will have a successful future.

Before this assignment I never considered what the “Be Orange” signs were about or the values that were behind being orange because I had never thought much about being orange.  I do see myself as a student here at Oregon State but I believe that our “be orange” campaign is to attract new students so that they feel like they will belong within our institution if they choose Oregon State.  I have set values that I do cherish here at OSU like success, responsibility, and knowledge, but I don’t believe that the institution is trying to attract current students to question these signs.  I do believe that I am orange because I belong to this university as a student but I don’t believe that the slogan “be orange” will ever have an effect on students after they graduate.  OSU Alumni would rather take pride in the color orange and remembering the memories they shared while here at OSU.  I don’t believe that graduating students are voicing their opinions to their friends and family letting them know about how to be orange and certain values they have towards being orange.  We are already orange in our own ways.  When we submitted our Advanced Tuition Deposit to confirm OSU as our school we became orange at that moment in time.  After that it doesn’t make sense for the institution to tell students to “be orange” since I believe we already are.  Once I graduate and become an Oregon State University Alumni, I will always see my self as orange, but I don’t understand why we have signs that say, “be orange” when every student attending and alumni have their own orange moments.   Each student has their own values that they share at Oregon State and I believe that success should be apart of each student.

Ultimately, being orange shows a sense of pride that each student should have whether you are a current student or alumni.  Being orange shows that you are successful, will be successful, or already are successful.  Our great university gives each student the tools and critical thinking skills that we will use after we graduate from OSU.  We are being taught to be successful within our majors and to always work hard towards are goals so that we can have bright futures.  Being orange is not only wearing your colors on game day, it’s taking pride in your school and in your education here at OSU.  To Oregon State students, orange isn’t just a color, it’s our life.  As an OSU student I am certain that the education that I am receiving here will give me the successful future that I have always dreamed for.

Submitted by Devon Renard

“Be Successful. Be Orange”

            To be “Orange,” you must strive for success in the ventures you undertake on a daily basis which promote the well being of the Oregon State University community. One must engage in activities and follow through with decisions that ultimately uplift beaver nation. Being successful, in my eyes, is the basis of what it means to be “Orange.” In order to strive for greatness and achieve my life goals through the receiving of my OSU degree, I must prove to be a successful person. Whether that be advancing my physical activity from collegiate athlete to playing for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association such as Jared Cunningham, leading a group of my peers to rally for a tuition freeze like Dan Cushing, or simply following my own dream towards success of working for a well known contracting firm, building a firm network through my time at OSU, and gaining internship experience with local companies. My degree here at OSU symbolizes the long road of learning I have gone through and the credentials I have gained that are necessary to professionally present myself in the business world. This degree exemplifies the understanding I have gained of how a community can come together, supporting one another and give back where aid can be given, as well as my educational cap off of knowledge gained through sitting in a classroom receiving instruction from a single professor per course.

The value of success is expectant to be used by every single person in the world and it is our goal as Oregon State graduates to implement this knowledge into the minds of those who personally did not receive this degree or who did not take part in the construction of the student’s knowledge base to receive this degree. Each and every participant in the OSU community, students, faculty, and scholarship granters, all have a job to spread the word of striving for success across the world. This applies to the victims of the tsunami that hit Alaska in 1964, as natural disasters such as these are being studied by students and faculty at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at OSU. The success of the world may also apply to Oregon Health and Science Universities Doernbecher Children’s Hospital who provide pediatric healthcare for kids suffering from bone and joint damage, cancer and blood disorders, cardio and neurological problems, and the OSU community generates thousands of dollars to aid in their world wide supportive health providing care, which saves the lives of countless children each day. (Doernbecher Children’s Hospital) With the aim of success, as the slogan “Be Orange” expresses, the OSU community is able to help others grow in their successfulness and promote itself for future endeavors to come.

Being orange may not only entail the sole value of success, but rather a new angle of promotion. “During the reveal, Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis declared the rebrand as being about three things: ‘Recruiting, recruiting, and recruiting.’”(Berkes, Peter [De Carolis, Bob]) In an interview with SB Nation the Oregon State athletic director clearly labels the mantra of what it means to be orange and new school logo as a means for recruitment towards student-athletes. This creates an immense drive for better athletes to want to come to OSU, ultimately producing a greater fan base and bringing in more revenue for the school. Athletics on the OSU campus are one of the top revenue earners for the school, but is recruitment the only way being orange can be defined? In class, communicating with my group members, a value they all believed was the best for defining what it means to “Be Orange” was diversity. To them this was cultivating the beliefs and ideas of people with different temperaments, talents, and convictions and spreading diversity across campus, through the community, and to the world. This would generate an endless amount of knowledge and creative thinking, but will this value advance OSU in a direction to advance the world?  I believe the success of both recruitment and diversity among the OSU campus are a part of what it means to “Be Orange,” but lack in the opportunities in knowledge growth and the education that Oregon State has to provide for its students and community.

Success is an important value and holds the sole aim of accomplishment. Being orange is doing just that. To “Be Orange,” one must simply accomplish the task at hand and promote the community, nation, or world around them. This value requires you as an individual or together with others, to determine a common goal or idea, building off of the knowledge and ideals of others, without the actions of procrastination, with the notion that no idea is a bad one, diving into the moral values you hold and to come up with a solution that has in some way advanced you, the community, nation, or world around you in a fulfilling manner. This applies to everyday individual choices made such as being polite through conversation, picking up garbage off the street, brushing your teeth in the morning, or spending time at a retirement home. Success may also be applied towards larger actions and moral decisions such as driving on the correct side of the road, aiding other countries by donating food and money, or building skyscrapers downtown. Being successful excludes anyone aiming to deter from the advancing successfulness of what being orange has to offer. This may include terrorists, people who perform bomb threats towards communities, or sexual assaulters on the Oregon State Campus. These people who perform these acts suppress the advancing successes of OSU and the positive movements Oregon State makes for the community, the nation, and the world.

Being “Orange” is being successful in your everyday life and is necessary for the modernization, economic growth and well being of Oregon State University, the community which surrounds it, the nation and the world which we live in. Being successful when referring to being orange is not just a belief some students have that it might be defined as, but rather a way of life people take on and define themselves by when they come to Oregon State University and agree to take part in what this institution has to offer. Be successful. Be Orange.

Sources Cited

1. Berkes, Peter [De Carolis, Bob]. “SB Nation.” March 4, 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/3/4/4063318/new-oregon-state-logo-uniforms>
2. “Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.” Oregon Health and Student University. 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/doernbecher/>
3. “O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory.” Oregon State University. 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://wave.oregonstate.edu/>
4. “Tsunami Research Center.” University of Southern California. 2005. March 17, 2013. <http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/alaska/1964/webpages/index.html>
5. “Wear The Square.” 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://www.wearthesquare.com>