Authentic Orange

Submitted by: Madilynn Gerritsen

To be authentic means being true to yourself. Doing what you want to do and living your live in accordance to your happiness and fulfillment. To me, authenticity means being happy; doing what you believe in and not caring about what other people do or say. It means recognizing your uniqueness and what makes you, you. Authenticity can mean different things for different people. As for philosophers like Heidegger, he saw authenticity as looking at your live in a different light, to think about our unavoidable death and realizing if you are making the right decisions. As for Nietzsche, he saw authenticity as not conforming to society and the unjust herd that pushes you in a direction that might not be what you intended, but it might be easy. For Kierkegaard, the meaning to life and truth was through god, and through finding those truths and meaning, authenticity will become a part of you.

As a student at OSU, becoming an individual in the community may be challenging because as Kierkegaard said, you become part of a crowd (lecture 5/5/15). You’re just another face in a lecture hall or stadium. Maybe you just go to the bar or a sports game because that’s what the crowd or your friends are doing. Being authentic in these situations may be difficult for some. One thing that I would encourage is to think. Think about what is going on. Think about how you feel. Think about if what you’re doing is what you actually want to do. Recognize your feelings, beliefs, and morals.

Take a step back. Slow down and look at the bigger picture. There is a concept known as da-sein, or thrown projection (lecture 4/16/15). Throwness meaning we are thrown into the world as it was before we got there. Things we do, tasks, values, beliefs, etc., are thrown at us and we are expected to catch them. Meanwhile, we forget being because of all the things being thrown at us. We lose ourselves and we become absorbed by them, for example, social media. I encourage everyone to take a step back. Put down your phones and technology and take a look at the world around you. People are becoming lost in technology, when they need to be open to reality to see your projection of how you could be living. Da sein; be in the moment.

Lastly, there are pressures from all over directing us in one-way or another. These pressures could be social, political, or economic. These pressures effect how we express our freedom. Freedom is one of the main concepts of the third existential theme, humanism that we discussed in lecture (lecture 5/7/15). One of the main points of this theme is the pursuit of freedom and identity, which is important for finding yourself and becoming authentic. As a college student, it is important to explore your freedom while you still have it before you take on more commitments and responsibilities of being an adult (lecture 5/26/15). I encourage everyone to embrace your youth and freedom. Go out and explore. You have the freedom to do almost anything with your lives, so find your passion and what you love and hold on those things.

To me, being authentic is a huge part of being happy. Following your heart and beliefs can make your life more rewarding and authentic. Think about the way you’re living and the way you feel. If you’re not happy, change something. Take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Are you where you want to be? Are you exploring your freedom, or are you trapped in routine like in Kafka’s metamorphosis (Kafka’s Metamorphosis)? Gregor was working at a job he hates to support people who didn’t appreciate him. He went through a change, but not a change of the self, a change of the body. If you are living inauthentically and are not happy, make a change of the self.

Submitted by: Brooke Jordan

Authenticity as defined by Vocabulary.com is, “a word that means something is genuine or real”. For a person to be authentic means they are true to oneself when making decisions and taking certain actions in everyday life. Staying true to oneself can be particularly hard when one is unsure of who they even are. The Oregon State Community thrives off of diversity and uniqueness. For a student to successfully,”be orange”, they must be authentic. One can achieve authenticity within the realm of the OSU community with just three helpful steps. The first includes using one’s freedom to submerge one’s self into the community by joining clubs, playing intramural sports, meeting new people, going to different events, etc. This allows a person to discover where their interests, likes, and dislikes lie. This allows for the diversity and uniqueness within the OSU community and to become “orange”.You begin to find yourself when you use the freedom, granted to every human, to expose yourself to new things and people. These decisions are much more important because a you are making them on your own, without higher authorities making them for you, that is not freedom (Lecture 5/26). Beauvoir stated, “he must assume his freedom and not flee it by a constructive movement: one does not exist without doing something; and also by a negative movement which rejects oppression for oneself and others” (Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, the conclusion second paragraph). Beauvoir means that without the use of freedom, one is wasting their life. After all, the only thing you aren’t free to do is make the decision to not be free (Lecture, 5/21). The second step of becoming “orange”, is not relying on forms of bad faith, this includes not denying transcendence. An example of denying transcendence would be, a student who spends their time on social media when they should be studying for an important exam that is coming up. Instead, they wait until the very last minute to start studying, when most would think this moment is too late. The student then tells their friend,”It’s okay, I always work better under pressure anyways”. This would be a form of denying transcendence because the student is denying their ability to change the habit of procrastination, they are not taking responsibility when able to start their studying (Lecture 6/2). Denying transcendence is very easy to do when one is morphing to those around them to make friends or fit in. However, in the OSU community if everyone were to start acting like their neighbor, it would lack its diversity. By doing what you want and doing things they way you want to, the individual becomes, “orange”. The third and final step to becoming “orange” is not relying another form of bad faith, this would be not denying facticity. An example of this would be if another student who has a large history of procrastination, says to his roommate, “I will start sooner next time”. This is a form of denying facticity because by just saying you will change something, doesn’t mean anything. The only way to truly change something, if you desire to, would be through taking actions and certain procedures to get there (Lecture, 6/2). Denying one’s facticity leaves the OSU community with no true knowledge of who the individual really is. The process of becoming authentic can be a very grueling, yet a very fulfilling process. A person is the sum of what they have done with their freedom (Lecture, 5/21). Denying transcendence and facticity, allows no room for expressing who a person really is as an individual. It takes away from the diversity and uniqueness the OSU community strives for. When someone finally becomes authentic, that is when they will authentically, “be orange”.

Submitted by: Tiara Hernandez

First, what is it to be authentically Orange? Living as a member of Oregon State’s community is encompassing the qualities that make a successful, goal oriented individual with a drive to reach their ambitions. Being a “Beaver” is striving not to only better yourself, but also adding a special something to benefit the community.

How to live AUTHENTICALLY ORANGE?

1. Encompass what it is to be a student
2. Encompass what it is to be a leader AND follower in the community
3. Use your freedom that is based on your morality

1. Ok, when I say be a student, I don’t refer to enrolling in some classes, get a good GPA, get a cool degree, and be done. No. I’m talking about learning to learn. Whether you are a freshman or have a doctorate in nuclear science, the brain never stops learning. It’s part of who we are as humans that pushes us to keep increasing our knowledge and making decisions as to what we think is the right and wrong thing to do. Questioning is one of our distinct human characteristics that is valued by the individual. “Questioning is thinking about and imagining the world different than it already is, can create innovation.” (Lecture, 5/19/15) In Oregon State we are all innovators, using our abilities to create; whether it be working in a lab, using new skills to draw new conclusions, or creating ideas to share with others.

2. As humans, we have evolved to work in packs. It is programed within us to be a part of an institution bigger than ourselves for a required sense of belonging and acceptance. We strive for a “pursuit of identity and freedom”, (Lecture, 5/19/15) but sometimes tend to get lost in what is known as “the heard”. There is always a pressure in society to go above and beyond and “transcend” for your self. Even though one might not think so, this Oregon state environment is a community and we have to “be one with other people and not thinking of each other as separate” (Lecture 5/5/15) to be successful within the community. The “Dasein” as Heidegger would state, or the “being with” is the encountering of other people in our daily lives. (Lecture, 5/5/15) Whether we choose to acknowledge them or not, a form of isolation is pretty much impossible in our existence.

3. When you board onto the journey that is college, you’re taking on a new experience that will change you in a way that adds to your existence. “Man is free; but he finds his law in his very freedom.” (The Ethics of Ambiguity, 1947) Everything you have experienced until this moment has made you who you are and has led you to make the choices you’ve made and will make in the future. As a student, leader, and follower, we can choose to live authentically by living out our lives staying true to our morals, values, and religions. By being true to ourselves one must also deny “bad faith” which is lying to ourselves and diminishing our power to make decisions that affects us. To be in bad faith one can be “both the liar and the deceived” (Lecture, 05/26/15). Do not deny your transcendence, be the person you’re meant to be. And do not deny facticity, do not do things that you wouldn’t do.

Submitted by Hannah Hinshaw
There are over 7 billion people on this planet and there is not one person out of those 7 billion that are exactly like you. You are all unique, different, and authentic. Authenticity is the way in which you are true to yourself and your personality. All of us here at Oregon State have a common goal at the end of our 4 years, to graduate. That however is not the concern, the question is how are you going to walk to Reser in your caps and gowns knowing that you are exactly who we want to be? Being Authentic isn’t a hobby or a life choice, it’s something that’s already in you but needs to come out and see the world.
From the moment you got accepted to Oregon State your future was changed, your minds altered, and your lives pushed in a new direction. You had to figure out what you were going to be. They make you pick a category from a drop down list of things like Engineering, Education, and Business. Your entire future with just the click of a button. Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega stated this with the idea of causa sui to the second power, (“Man has no nature” pg. 155, and lecture 4-5-15). This is determining what a person shall be. At Oregon State you have the struggles of making sure you are on the right path. In order to be authentic, you shouldn’t think about who you should be, but rather who you are now, that in turn will help you find who you should be. If you aren’t living the life you want, and expressing your thoughts and ideas there is no way you will find out who you will be, because that will never be the authentic you.
With that being said, existences precedes essence, this is existential theme number 1 (Lecture 4-14-15). Understanding that “your essence” or nature is a result of your choice. In college there are tons of choices that you have to make and each one is helping you become who you are. Finding your essence could be taking a class with a friend that is outside of your major, or deciding to study abroad because it’s something you’ve always wanted to try. Your essence is that thing that makes you special. Sometimes making the hard decisions like staying in to study instead of hanging out with friend’s shows you that you can be a hard worker. Certain decisions make you understand yourself and why you do things. It all helps you become an authentic beaver.
College is stressful on everyone, there are thousands of students walking around campus and sitting in the same lecture hall as you. You all have different stories but you are all in the same place. This can connect with Heideggers thoughts of “being-in-the-world” and the Greek word Dasein which means “being there” (Lecture 4-16-15). Each person is there, sitting in that old wooden chair that is so uncomfortable that our desk chairs in our dorms sound like a better place to be sitting. In college you can feel lost in a sea of people who are striving for similar objectives, so being there, and being you, are completely different. You can sit there and pretend to listen like every other student or you can figure out if this is something you are interested in learning about, is it something that could benefit you in the future? For some it may and for others it may not, the point is that doing what everybody else is doing isn’t going to get you where you want to be. To be an authentic beaver you need to be in the world but under your rules, not anybody else’s.
Authenticity, who you are. The way you’re living your life right now in this moment. Being an authentic beaver can be difficult, you need to think about who you are right now and decide if you are on the right path to who you are going to be. You should understand that “your essence” isn’t something to be afraid of but something to embrace because it is yours and nobody else has it or can take it from you. You should now that being in the world is a gift, we don’t let gifts sit on the counter we pick them up and use them to our advantage, we make something of them. Making something of ourselves while going through the struggles of college and finding our way is what it means to be an authentic beaver.

Submitted by Katharine Jesse

In any community it is extremely easy to get lost in the crowd. That being said, it is even easier to get lost or become just part of the herd when attending Oregon State University due to the sheer size of enrollment being just over 30,000 students. Students of Beaver Nation are expected to exude characteristics of “being orange” because being orange is what defines the a Beaver. However, inherent with being part of the orange community, one must first be his authentic self because ultimately it is individuals that create a unique and diverse community. Authenticity is a major component of Existentialism. Authenticity can be defined as being genuine and faithful to who one wants to be. This is based of their desires, motives, ideals, and beliefs and expressed through ones actions. The Existential theme of humanism, ethics, and freedom are all facets of authenticity.
Living out truth is necessary to “be orange.” This is because multiples of truths create a diverse community, formed of many perspectives. Nietzsche describes truths as “illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins” (Nietzsche, On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense). Ultimately, truth is a poetic and descriptive way of describing the world that is unique to every individual (Lecture, 5-26-15), thus every person possesses their own truth.
Practicing humanism is large part of being authentic on the Oregon State University campus. Humanism can be described as the pursuit of identity and freedom, and values and meaning in opposition to social, political, and economic pressure for conformity (Lecture, 5-7-15). The Orange community is very diverse, with many different ethnicities, ages, majors, economic status’, backgrounds, and perspectives. Because of these differences, it is important to respect everyone as basic fellow human beings and while also being true to ones own beliefs with regards to politics, social issues, and economic pressure. If one is not true to there own beliefs they risk becoming part of the herd.
Being part of the herd or crowd is dangerous. It is easy to get swept into while on Oregon State’s campus, because one wants to fit in and be just like others who are ‘cool’. Ultimately, being part of the herd makes an individual irresponsible because one is not forced to be completely responsible for ones own actions (Lecture, 5-5-15). Thus there actions are not uniquely their’s because they are living a life of bad faith.
Due to our humanity, everyone has freedom, freedom to create and freedom to choose values. Freedom is reflection, freedom is transcendence, and freedom is responsibility (Lecture, 5-21-15). As part of being Orange, one must question the different facets of community they are part, to understand, for themself, why they are part of the Orange community. One must understand that they will always be part of the Orange community because they will be alumni’s. And thirdly, being orange requires you to bear the responsibility exuding the values that are part of Beaver Nation.
Finally, ethics play a roll in authenticity. Sartre asserts that when choosing for self, one chooses for all humans (Lecture, 5-21-15). He means that when one makes a choice for how one thinks something ought to be, it implies that that person thinks everyone else should do the same or think the same because it should be good for humanity as a whole. This is because ethical considerations define individuals and societies alike. Ethics relates to the question of how one is to use their freedom to be authentic.(Lecture, 5-7-15) So, in relation to the Orange community, it is important to think how one’s own actions, as molded from their individual ethics, effects the rest of the community. Do your actions exude Orange?
In conclusion, ones existence straddles between an already and a not yet. Or in other words, who one is and who one wants to be. The crux of one’s existence lies in authenticity. This is becoming who you are and living out one’s personal truth through humanism, ethics, and freedom. All being Orange requires is that one lives a life exuding their own personal beliefs, by taking charge of one’s own freedom, ethics, and humanism. And also, to always be a Beaver believer. Go Beavs!

Submitted by: Aaron Sprunger

In relationships we are often reminded to be “real”. Being “real”, being authentic it’s all the same, everyone is saying to be your true self. As an Oregon State University (OSU) students, faculty and staff we have a relationship with our school, but how can we be authentically orange? First, one must understand what it means to be authentic and second, what it means to be orange.

Authenticity is not something others can give to us, but rather something we must establish on our own. As Sarte says, “the absolute character of the free commitment” (Satre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, pg. 11) is at the heart. This means that when we come to school, we have the choice to commit to whatever it is that we like. As Socrates says, “If I do not reveal my views on justice in words, I so by my conduct” (Socrates 469-399 BC, from Lecture, 4/2/15). The commitments that we make as we go through our days define and shape the individual that we are and will become. We have already taken the first step by applying, accepting, and attending (or being otherwise associated to) OSU.

After taking the initial step, we are now part of something larger, which in part defines us. In the words of Heidegger we are part the “they” (Heidegger, Being and Time, pg. 226), the OSU faculty/student body. As the they, the outside world views us as a singular “body”. This “body” has specific characteristics that others will not. For example, students from OSU are all exposed to a multicultural environment on campus given students a certain familiarity with people from different backgrounds. Contrary to Socrates as we become part the “herd” (Nietzsche, The Gay Science, pg. 130) it is as though we are following a larger mass, removed from our individual choices. Following the herd we lose the individuality that Satre and Socrates believe humans to have.

As OSU students and faculty gain identity as part of OSU, we must consider what it means to be authentically orange. Do you have to take on campus courses? What percentage? Do you have to participate in OSU activities outside of class? How many? How far does the OSU community spread? Do people that work close to campus and participate in OSU events but aren’t students qualify as being authentically orange. It is my belief that to be authentically orange one must embrace the OSU community and the environment it provides. This means being on campus regularly, participating in clubs and other available resources on campus. As discussed in lecture (Lecture 5/26/15) to be in bad faith one must be “both the liar and the deceived.” Students and faculty that are beyond the OSU Corvallis campus cannot fully understand what it means to be authentically orange. However, it is likely that they are acting in bad faith because as remote students and faculty they do not know what they are missing or not a part of. Thus they speak a non-truth and are deceived as to what it means to be authentically orange.

Being authentically orange isn’t difficult but it requires an individual to make the choice that they will bleed orange. That they are going to embrace the OSU community and all that it has to offer. Be it sports, using facilities, clubs, or anything else that is connected to OSU. Get involved, build a relationship with OSU and be authentically orange!

Submitted by Derek Jackson

To answer the question of what it means for someone to authentically “Be Orange”, a declaration of what it means to be orange is required first. In this response, being orange will mean to be a part of the community at Oregon State University. What this entails is that you are either a student or faculty member at this school, and therein are part of the community either by attending classes, teaching a class, work in one of the buildings, or take part in extracurricular clubs or activities. Whenever people come together as a group, problems can occur. Since some would argue that it would be impossible for the whole school to come together and get along, the community of Oregon State consists of a bunch of smaller communities. Friedrich Nietzsche defines a group of people to be a herd. The herds found in the greater community can have different moralities, in the sense that one herd will act differently than another in a given situation. Now as an individual of a herd, one is “led to be functions of the herd and to attribute value to themselves merely as functions” (Nietzsche, The Gay Science, pg. 130). But when an individual does so, their minds are now focused on the well-being of the herd. This now becomes a conflict with their authenticity. To live an authentic life is to live true to yourself. What this means is that your everyday actions do not result in bad faith. Bad faith is a way of denying the human situation (Lecture, 5/26/15); we are denying a part of our ontological centaur. Jean Paul Sartre defines the ontological centaur as two parts coinciding. One part is being-in-itself, and the other is being-for-itself (Lecture, 4/9/15). Being-in-itself relates to the human facticity, or the given in life, where being-for-itself relates to the human transcendence, which gives us humans the freedom and consciousness that we have. So in short, to be authentic with yourself is to be and act how you want to, and not how others want you to. The thing is however, we as humans want to fit in and be liked by our peers. This is the conflict that comes up in community. Nietzsche supports this when saying, “in many people I see an excessively forceful and pleasurable wish to be a function; they have the finest scent for all those positions where precisely they can be a function, and that is where they rush to” (Nietzsche, The Gay Science, pg. 131). So what then is the trick to still get along in a community and still be authentic with yourself? The first step is to be true to yourself by being and acting as who you want to be. However, the solution is not found in just one person. It requires for everyone to accept their fellow peers as their authentic self. I am not saying everyone has to accept everyone, although that would be ideal. But that is why there are different groups found at Oregon State University. Finally, to answer the question of what it means for someone to authentically “Be Orange”, all you must do is be authentic with yourself, and allow other people to be authentic with themselves.

To live authentically may or may not be one of the hardest things a person can do. In today’s society people are forced to realize that everyone is judging them, well most that is, or that many people think that they are constantly being judged. Social media and class mates may bring on this fear of being judged. Because of this people may think that they must change who they are so that they may be accepted into society without too harsh of a judgment. People should know that being your self is far most pleasing then to be someone else. Just like in the Metamorphose Gregor fails to find his true authenticity and becomes something he is not. You are you for a reason. Live authentically and you will see that life is so much more rewarding. Here are some tips for anyone who is struggling to be their authentically orange self at Oregon State University.
Tip one is basic. Fallow your goals and find classes that make you happier inside. If you do not like the major or minor that you are striving for then why go through all the trouble if you will not even be happy with it? Do not be lingering in the herd if it brings stress, pain, and longing for something else. (lecture 5/7) Do not act in bad faith but rather in good. (lecture 5/26) Stay true to yourself and abandon the herd. Happiness is the key to live an authentic orange life. You can even find some clubs that sound interesting to you.
Along with finding clubs comes tip number two. If you do join clubs or attend classes that you like you may find that there are other people who have the same mind set as you do. (Yes their opinions may differ from yours but that is the beauty of authenticity!) Soon enough you may just have some new friends that help bring out the real you. They will not judge but accept you for how you really are. Having a close friend group on campus is something great to have. Friends will and should build you up and not tare you down.
Tip three is mostly aimed at you yourself but you can also do it with your friend group on campus or off of it. Try something new and do something different. If you feel the urge to do an activity or wear something then do it. You will learn what the authentic you is really like, if you attempt to do more things in the world. How can you know who the real you is, if you have not tried all there is to do in the world. If you hide all your life in a little bubble doing the same routine over and over again how will you know if what you are doing is actually what the real you wants or likes? Freedom is a great thing but also a heavy burden. (lecture 5/7) You can do so many things with freedom but it is hard to think of something to do with it. I urge you to try and control your freedom and go out into the world and do something different, even if that means just trying a new food or walking a new way to class. “Man is free, man is freedom.” (Satre, Existentialism Is Humanism) I think this quote sums up what people try to forget or are forgetting. I think it is better to be free then to change who you are so you can forget about the burden that freedom has on a person. Strive to be yourself, the authentic you and see how your life turns out. Whether it is good or bad it will stay true to your authentic self. It is better to be you then to be a fake you. Be the individual in the crowd, (Lec. 5/5/15) be the authentically orange you.

Submitted by Lucy Pletman

Authenticity can mean many different things to different people, but is defined as the act of being true to oneself and acting and presenting oneself in accordance to your own individual beliefs. Philosophically being authentic can take on a much deeper meanings; Kierkegaard defined it as finding your own truths and meaning in life through an individual relationship with god and not the through the crowd, Nietzsche believed it to be not allowing the power of the majority to think for you and to decide your own morals and existential truths and lastly Heidegger believed it can be choosing to take a step back from our everyday reality in the large collective body of people to look at ourselves and our lives in relationship to our unavoidable death.

To me authenticity is arguably a combination of these; authenticity is like Kierkegaard said a matter of finding ones truth, “Truth is harder to get as an individual of a crowd because you either defer responsibilities of finding truth to the crowd or let the crowd make choices for you” (Lecture 5/5/2015). However, truth like Nietzsche says isn’t through god, and religion can be seen as a sickness because it is another form of grouping people together and when grouping others together the thoughts and behaviors of an individual are put below those of the groups and the pressure to conform doesn’t allow you to be authentic to yourself. He says in the gay science “By means of morality, individuals are led to be functions of the herd and to attribute value to themselves merely as functions”(Nietzsche, The Gay Science, pg. 116). So in order to be authentic to oneself one must not look at themselves as a function of a group but as an individual. An unavoidable fact of like that Nietzsche and Kierkegaard miss however is, “People and the crowd are an unavoidable component of human existence” (Lecture 5/5/2015). Knowing that collective bodies of people and being a part a group is an unavoidable obstacle to becoming an individual within your community.

So with that being said it is arguable that all of these philosophers are right in different ways, but they are all wrong as well. If the core idea of being authentic to oneself is finding your own truths, than the truth behind the definition of being authentic is entirely subject to an individual. With this idea it is important to note however, that even though every definition of truth and authenticity is different for an individual, being authentic to oneself is something completely subjective and should be decided on as an individual. The struggle behind being authentic to oneself today comes from the fact that like Heidegger said we are unavoidably a collective group of people, and it is much easier to differ the responsibility of deciding what our existential truths our and the true meaning of our being to the collective group of others. However, how can you be authentic to yourself if you just choose to believe and follow the truths of others? “A crowd is indeed made up of single individuals; it must therefore be in everyone’s power to become what he is, a single individual: no one is prevented from being a single individual, no one, unless he prevents himself by becoming many” (Kierkegaard, The Crowd Is Untruth, pg. 3). Even though no individual is prevented from being an individual, finding truth and meaning in life is an obstacle that cannot be given.

This is the reason that Nietzsche believes that god is untruth, “Even being able to say that religion can be interpreted takes away from the truth of it, and if religion is a human construct then there is no absolute truth” (Lecture 04/28/2015). In saying that religion is a human construct means that it could be constructed in many different ways. Meaning there is no absolute meaning of truth, which goes back to the fact that truth and meaning are subjective and absolute truth is something you choose. So those that choose to believe that god is absolute truth have made the choice to believe in another constructed idea of truth, but the truth they have chosen to believe in is not one of their own, their meaning and beliefs are given to them. Ultimately however, those around us and their beliefs are unavoidable and finding what it means to be authentic to oneself means you have to take a step back from the group to decide what your meanings and truths are.

Recognizing our unavoidable death in order to help us realize what it means to be authentic and the importance of living this short subjective experience of life true to who we are is a truth in defining what it means to you, to be orange.