Authentic Orange

Submitted by Abdulrahman Alkharashi

Authenticity is variably defined, it is defined differently and has different meanings based on the person’s view to the world, values and what constitutes being one’s self. Being oneself is to make choices and live life without being affected by external influence (i.e. society, community, etc.) nor affected by guidelines and standards that were set by others (Lecture 05/21/2015). To be authentic is to be looking for truth, really be yourself, and to live life with own values with a choice of what constitutes morals and standards. Being yourself includes but not limited to making decisions, choices and interacting with the world. Being authentic is also being distinguished and unique which relates to “Be Orange” because they both mean being oneself and unique.

One obstacle to become an individual or “authentic” within the community is the baseline that already underlines the morals and standards set by the community and society. The society follows set of rules or norms that are followed and obeyed by the great majority because they are “standards”, even though those standards might not align with many people’s values. However, those people don’t take the time to evaluate these norms and standards to compare and see if they match their values and standards as individuals. For example, what constitutes a good student? Is it GPA? Publications? Attendance? Or involvement with student clubs? The answer is “there isn’t a single answer”, we as students decide what make us good students from our point of view and make us satisfied about ourselves Lecture 05/07/2015). Becoming an individual doesn’t necessary suggest doing everything against society norms, but to do what is believed to be representative of one’s self that is not an interruption to others (Lecture 05/19/2015). As a college community of an educational institution, to “Be Orange” students must make their own decisions in their academic career and make their decisions and experience based on self-interest, not to be driven by the decisions or ideas of others (Lecture 04/02/2015).

To overcome the obstacle, students should take a look at the big picture which includes the norms and baselines set by the community in addition to their values and interest. Next is to compare these norms with our own values to see the “royalty” we get when we use our own values and be ourselves in addition to align them to the norms and standards. Overcoming the obstacle also aligns with concept of freedom “If I regard a certain course of action as good, it is only I who choose to say that it is good and not bad” (Reading, Jean-Paul Sarte, Existentialism is a Humanism, 12th paragraph). To overcome the obstacle, we should ask ourselves, are we really doing what we want or is our conduct and what we are doing regulated by other humans? Realizing our authenticity and our uniqueness is what make us get to where we want and become the person we want to be. “Be Orange”, is to be one’s self and unique, which adds value to our college community and make each individual add their own contributions and represent themselves.