Authentic Orange

submitted by Lorena Colcer

At Oregon State University, “Be Orange” means a lot more than what appears on the surface. “Being Orange” requires people to examine themselves and determine what “living authentically” means for them.

As defined by Merriam-Webster, “authentic” means “true to one’s personality, spirit, or character.” Here are some tips on how a student at OSU can strive to authentically “Be Orange.”

Tip #1: Choose your major authentically – but don’t sweat it

Ultimately, a college education is the reason people choose to be students at OSU. Therefore, it is important to be choose an undergraduate major authentically.

Sartre’s advice to students when choosing something is that, “When we say that man chooses himself, we do mean that every one of us must choose himself; but by that we also mean that in choosing for himself he chooses for all men. For in effect, of all the actions a man may take in order to create himself as he wills to be, there is not one which is not creative, at the same time, of an image of man such as he believes he ought to be” (Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism, pg. 5). Essentially, when one chooses something, they should choose something which they believe everybody should do. People should form not only their own lives with their choices, but also “an image of man such as he believes he ought to be.” This ensures that people make the choice which aligns with their beliefs – the most authentic one.

However, your undergraduate major does not define you. It is included in the definition of you, but it does not make up the entirety of someone – especially since there are many cases where people have careers in fields that are completely unrelated to their undergraduate major.

This is an example of denying one’s transcendence, similar to the example of a waiter trying to convince someone that they are only a waiter and nothing but a waiter (Lecture 5/26/15). This is just silly – people are more than just their jobs or their major. So, if you’re having trouble deciding what you want to major in, that’s okay. Do what feels right, and seek opportunities that sound exciting – that way, you’ll start to get experience in what interests you.

Tip #2: Choose your illicit activities authentically (and responsibly!)

Okay, I personally don’t prefer illicit activities, but the typical college student will engage in them from time to time.

First of all – be safe in your illicit activities. Don’t let people drive while intoxicated, don’t leave your drink unattended, and stand up for people if someone is taking advantage of them.

Be mindful of your long-term goals. A way to help this is to think about Kierkegaard’s three spheres of life: the aesthetic, seeking immediate desires, the ethical, adhering to universal moral duties, and the religious, an individual relationship with the Christian God and religion. (Lecture 4/23/15) I’m not advocating that one is better than the other (in fact, I’m not even religious), but that you should spend time pondering which one you fit in currently and whether or not you think it is best for you.

Tip #3: Choose your licit activities authentically (and responsibly!)

Make sure to prioritize what needs to be prioritized – avoid procrastination. Turn off your phone and use a browser extension that does not let you access social media websites while you’re studying. It will help you focus on what needs to be done, along with help you staying authentic to yourself.

You might be thinking – “but, everyone procrastinates at some point, so why should I bother?” That example is one full of bad faith, or the denial of the facticity/transcendence duality of human existence. This is specifically denying transcendence, because it is denying your freedom to branch out from your peer group and be different (and responsible!). (Lecture 6/2/15) Do what you need to do. Your life will be much less stressful if you avoid living near the end of the deadline.

Ultimately, as Ortega would say, causa sui^2: you are self-caused and self-defining (Lecture 4/9/15). You accumulate being, and it is your choice for who you want to be and how you want to “Be Orange.” Take this advice and use it to be as successful and authentic as you can be. Go Beavs!

Submitted by Geoffrey Bishop

Congrats! You graduated High School and are now on your way to Oregon State University. I can assure you that you have made the right choice of schools in the State of Oregon! Before you get Corvallis, I’d like to give you a few pointers on how to “Be Orange!” We want you to be as authentic as you can and this intro to OSU will help you do that!

You might be asking yourself, “What does it mean to authentically Be Orange?” In a recent publication from Stanford, “The term ‘authentic’ is used… in a weaker sense of being ‘faithful to an original’ or a ‘reliable, accurate representation’” (Varga, Somogy. “Authenticity.”). So, the easiest way to be “authentic” is to be you. Oregon State is a great place to find out who you are by exploring the many options and experiences of this great University.

While we want you to be yourself, we also want you to have school spirit and follow in our motto, “Be Orange!” A few steps on how to “Be Orange” is as follows:

Step One: Wear orange! If you don’t already have some of our awesome Beaver gear, head on over to the OSU Bookstore to pick some up.

Step Two: Cheer for the Beavers! Some of the best memories in college are from sporting events. Standing in the rain, wind blowing in your face, drunken guy falling into you, all while watching your Beavers fight for another win! That’s the dream!

If you haven’t been to a sporting event yet, then you haven’t heard our student section and their many cheers! Learning those makes anyone a sports lover.

Step Three: Make new friends! Oregon State University is one of the friendliest places and everyone is just waiting to be your friend.

Some of the best ways to make new friends is by joining some of our clubs. We have everything from farming, to business, to music, to sports! There is a club for everyone here.

Step Four: Enjoy yourself! You may only be her for a couple of years and after those 4 years… 5 years… 6 years… (I hope you’re in your masters by now), you’ll remember what it meant to you to “Be Orange”!

Step Five: Go to class! Although you’re supposed to enjoy yourself, you need to attend class to be able to relax.

If you start skipping, soon all those missed assignments or clicker points will add up and so will your stress. The expression, “Work Hard, Play Hard” actually comes in handy. If you set a goal for yourself to effectively work for 2-4 hours and get something done, then go out for dinner or hang with friends, I guarantee you will enjoy yourself a lot more.

Looking back at the Five steps on “How to Be Orange”, you’ll notice they all circle around the idea of getting outside and meeting someone new at a sporting event or in class. Over the course of my time here, I learned that to “Be Orange” I just needed to be happy and smile on campus (For some others, “Be Orange” involves drinking. That’s their choice). One last piece of advice is to ask questions. Not only in class but also in life. School will teach you what you need to know for a career, but the people around you will teach you how to live and isn’t living what life is all about? Have Fun and Welcome to Beaver Nation!

Work Cited

Varga, Somogy. “Authenticity.” Stanford University. Stanford University, 11 Sept. 2014.

Submitted by: Grady Titus

The word authenticity can mean something different for everyone. Everyone has their own opinion and understanding on what it means to be authentic. While most people have different ways of describing what it means to be authentic and to live authentically, most of them would agree that it defined somewhere along the lines of being yourself and doing what makes you happy.  Most people would agree with the definition of authenticity as the act of being true to oneself and acting and presenting oneself in accordance to your own individual beliefs. Oregon State’s slogan, “Be Orange”, ties in closely with the idea of authenticity and living an authentic life.

To “Be Orange” one must be themselves at Oregon State. It is to be true to their own values and beliefs while being at and attending Oregon State University.  However, some find it difficult to be their authentic selves while attending Oregon State and they struggle to “Be Orange”.  With almost 30,000 students enrolled at Oregon State University, it can be difficult to be authentic when there are so many other people around influencing one’s authenticity.  An individual might feel constantly surrounded and never feel fully on their own. They feel like they are in a crowd or in a herd.

Nietzsche writes about this herd feeling in his novel, The Gay Science. One specific topic that he writes about is herd instinct. Nietzsche writes, “…We find an assessment and ranking of human drives and actions. These assessments and rankings always express the needs of a community and herd:whatever profits it in the first place-and in the second and third-is also the supreme measure of the value of all individuals.” (Nietzsche, The Gay Science, pg. 116). College students may worry too much about ranking their achievements or activities instead of focusing on being authentic. They may rank how good their grades are compared to others, if they are joining the highest ranked fraternity or sorority house on campus, or ranking how many friends they make. This herd becomes almost a “sickness” (Lecture, 5/5/15). These rankings can easily lead to one not being authentic and living authentically as well as not “Being Orange”.

Kierkegaard also writes about a similar herd mentality that Nietzsche wrote about. He writes about “the crowd”, “There is a view in life which holds that where the crowd is, the truth is also, that it is a need in truth itself, that it must have the crowd on its side. There is another view in life; which holds that wherever the crowd is, there is untruth, so that, for a moment to carry the matter out to its farthest conclusion, even if every individual possessed the truth in private, yet if they came together into a crowd, untruth would be once let in.” (Kierkegaard, The Crowd is Untruth, pg. 1). With a crowd as big as 30,000 people at Oregon State, there is bound to be a lot of untruth, according to Kierkegaard.  This untruth makes an individual “unrepentant and irresponsible” (Lecture, 5/5/15).  With a crowd so large it becomes difficult to be responsible for being one’s authentic self.

Some believe that one must transform themselves into their own authentic self. This comes from Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, and the transformation between body and self. (Lecture, 6/4/15). I take away from this story that in order to be authentic, one must transform themselves. When people come to college, they change. Whether it’s how they look or act. They slowly transform into a new and more authentic person. To “Be Orange” one must transform themselves into the authentic person that they are meant to be and that will make them happy.

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.

Submitted by Nivita Sriram

     Humans can never be sure if they are truly authentic or not. What we can do at the least is to find ourselves even if we’re unable to reveal our true self to the world. Authenticity means being truthful and honest at all times regardless one’s environment and people surrounding them. In this day and age, it’s very hard to find people that are truly authentic. To authentically “Be Orange” at Oregon State University means to be a true Beaver. It is difficult who is actually a true Beaver that religiously follows all games and activities on campus, or one that hops on the bandwagon to be a part of school spirit- which probably includes most of us here at OSU. In this society, it is difficult to find who is authentically “Orange” and who isn’t due to various societal pressures and expectations we have set for one another.

 Many factors can contribute to preventing someone from becoming authentic, or truly an individual. This is also seen through Nietzshe’s beliefs- “But throughout the longest era of humanity, there was nothing more frightful than being single. Being alone, perceiving as a single person, neither ruling, nor constituting an individual-that was no pleasure, but a punishment” (Nietzshe, The Gay Science, p. 117). As Nietzsche explains, throughout humanity it’s been a common theme that individuality and authenticity is bad. To truly be authentic, however, one must reject this belief and be a singular person and believe that their individuality is more important and valuable than following the “herd”- a term used by Nietzsche to describe how people generally follow others around them. The “Herd” can often lead individuals to act in unauthentic ways, or to be less authentic themselves (lecture, 5/5/15).Ways to express ourselves and be authentic can be done in many different ways- one way in particular is appearance. As demonstrated by the extra credit exercise done in class, many people came to class in their “authentic” selves. If people dressed like their real selves all the time, authenticity would be the “norm” of society. However, we are forced to follow societal norms and behaviors to fit in- which we may not all agree with or abide to. Girls who don’t wear makeup could be seen as authentic, and guys who don’t shave their faces could be seen as authentic as well. Authenticity doesn’t have one definition, to some people being “all natural” could be authentic, but to others they are their authentic selves when they are dressed up. Authenticity varies from person to person, and is hard to point out in a crowd. It’s difficult to naturally “be authentically orange”- rather it is an achieved trait. One becomes “orange” after participating in school events, wearing orange, attending games and cheering on the Beavers.

Individuals must not forget about themselves and their minds well getting caught up in a society where individualism may be seen as a bad thing. Kierkegaard states that the crowd is “untruth, and makes the individual irresponsible” (lecture, 5/5/15). Following the majority of society makes us lie to ourselves about who we really are, and influences us to do things we may not usually do, which also makes us questionable in the realm of ethics. What often happens in society, however is dehumanization, the refusal to recognize humanity when people try to follow social norms and abide to laws (lecture, 5/19/15). This theory by Fanon proves that humans are often dehumanized- much like Jews in concentration camps during the Holocaust but in less extreme situations today. Instead, humans must be in the situation, in itself, for itself, and for others to be authentic and find themselves in the chaos of today’s world. Rather than following dehumanization, humans must strictly follow humanism. (lecture 5/19/15). In addition to following the theory of humanism, humans must realize their freedom and use it to their full potential. Freedom is the last existential theme of philosophy- it includes reflection, transcendence, and responsibility. Humans are condemned to be free. We have the freedom to create and choose values, we are self surpassing and lastly, man is responsible for everything that he does. (lecture 5/21/15).

To be authentically orange, one must truly believe that he/she is a true Beaver, and achieve status in being a true Beaver. It cannot be easily defined, as authenticity can vary person to person. However, if one follows the theories of humanism, freedom, and defy the common beliefs of the crowd and the herd to be true to themselves, and become purely authentic.

Submitted By: Matthew Bushbaum

To ask ourselves, what does it mean to be authentically orange is to ask first, what it means to be authentic, then, what it means to “be orange,” and in the case of this situation I’m going to assume it means to “be orange” in respect to our interaction with the Oregon State University. When addressing what it means to be orange it is first derived to be referring to us being Oregon State University students and as such, we need to address what needs to be overcome to consider ourselves “orange” in the eyes of ourselves, peers and the university.

To first determine authenticity it needs to be known that the person in consideration doesn’t deny their facticity or their transcendence. Their transcendence is one’s existence beyond physiological state, (Lec, 5/26/15) and one’s facticity is the existence within their physical state (Lec, 5/26/15). Therefore a student to determine him or herself to be “orange” is to determine themselves to factually go to the institution be actively involved and typically blend in with the herd that is “being orange.” They must do this without denying their authenticity, meaning they must truly want to be a beaver not just attend class there.

Let’s assume a person is attending OSU yet they aren’t involved within the society that is to be a beaver such as attending sporting events, classes, extracurricular and the campus that is OSU. For example, they are an online student that doesn’t attend regular activities ever. For them to consider themselves to “be orange” would be in bad faith. This form of Bad faith is “ambiguous because they are being in situation” when they lie to his or herself about their authenticity (Lec, 5/26/15). We also need to consider the grey area between being active in OSU life and being inactive. Where is the line drawn? And there really isn’t a line in the eyes of our peers and the institution; however, there could be a line drawn in the imaginations of ourselves. Friedrich Nietzsche inquires about the “herd instinct” in The Gay Science saying, whenever a person is in situation they assess themselves, and “These assessments and rankings always express the needs of a community and herd” meaning those in the ’herd’ consider themselves “orange” only if they feel it necessary to consider themselves “orange.”

For one to declare being “orange,” one must see a benefit or gain from declaring, by not declaring themselves orange they can deny there authenticity if they are in fact orange. For the average person, to become orange and break into the community that is Oregon State all they have to do is claim being orange or to not claim being orange.  Everybody has this freedom and are condemned to make the personal observation of whether or not they are orange in nature (Lec, 5/14/15).

So in the eyes of your peers and the institution it is ambiguous whether or not you are “being orange;” however to be orange in your own eyes you must be authentic to yourself and be aware if you’re in situation or out of situation and if your denying your transcendence or facticity. Therefore, I consider determining whether or not you’re orange or not to be a personal quest of finding your authentic self then determining if that self is “orange” or not.

Submitted by Sydney Lund

“Be Orange”

There’s many different ways to describe authenticity, or “being orange.” However, for myself to describe, I would say that authenticity means being genuine, kind, and heartfelt. My reasoning for this is because authentic is your true self, and how you express yourself on a daily basis. People express themselves in many different ways, and from the lectures in class, we talked about one of the existential themes being “humanism.” While we were talking about humanism, we learned that it is an individual who focuses on the pursuit of identity and freedom (Lecture, 5/19/15). Also, their values and meaning in opposition to social, political and economic pressure for conformity. This means that humanism is linked to authenticity, or at least I believe so. I think they are linked together because reasoning, freedom, being in situation and questioning are all part of being authentic.

I believe there are many obstacles to becoming an individual within a community, but I have one specific in mind. I think the biggest obstacle people face is not being accepted by individuals, and constantly being judged by others, which makes it difficult to live a happy life in a community. I also feel like it’s troubling to be accepted nowadays because there are so many different spheres of life according to our readings. For example, there is the aesthetic sphere, ethical sphere, and religious sphere. Everyone fits in a different sphere and I feel like people are accepted based on the sphere they fall into. The aesthetic sphere is sensation, and it satisfies immediate desires, and seeks pleasurable experiences (Lecture, 4/28/15). These types of spheres are often thrill seekers and seducers. Also, the ethical sphere is choice (Lecture, 4/28/15). The meaning of the ethical sphere is morality, and has universal and moral duties. Lastly, is the religious sphere. The religious sphere includes, but can contradict the ethical sphere (Lecture, 4/28/15). It means to have Christian faith and is individual and subjective versus church dogma. The eternal meaning of this sphere is found in passionate absurd, commitment and is part of the leap of faith. As an example for being an obstacle as an individual in our community is, I have noticed that here at Oregon State, if you’re not in a sorority or a fraternity, then you are generally not as accepted to hang out with those people. I feel as though the people in sororities and frats are in the aesthetic sphere, because they are more of the risk takers, and thrill seekers. However, that doesn’t mean that other people not in frats and sororities are those types of people either, but people judge too much, and it’s difficult to be accepted.

Being Orange also collides with the themes of existentialism (Lecture, 5/21/15). The first theme is “Existence precedes essence.” Basically, what you are is a result of your choices. This relates to authenticity because authenticity is being yourself, which is a result of your choices. The second theme is existence is temporal. The second theme relates to authenticity because depending on what you choose to do, your choices are up to you and how genuine your attitude is. The third theme is ethics, which means varying definitions. Ethics also includes commitment to politics. Ethics relates to authenticity because it is a shared commitment to authentic living, as individuals and society (Lecture 5/19/15). Basically meaning that to be authentic is being accepted by society by your genuinity. The next theme is freedom, which means reflection, transcendence and responsibility. Freedom relates to authenticity because in order to be who you are and act as yourself, then you have to be and act free. All of these are from the readings, and lectures from class that all relate to being orange, and acting authentic.

In conclusion, to be authentic means to be genuine, and yourself. People these days need to be more accepting and take a leap of faith according to Kirkegard (Kirkegard, The Crowd is Untruth). The leap of faith is passionate, and subjective relationship to truth (Lecture, 4/28/15). This also relates to authenticity because you are taking a chance to show your true self. Overall, people need to be themselves, which is being orange, because that is staying true to yourself.