Be Good. Be Orange.

Oregon State is a great academic school and because of that has developed a strong reputation for itself. Reputation, I believe, is built on by your moral compass and by the actions influenced my your moral compass. Oregon States reputation all starts with the students and staff blazing new trails and have the ambition and focus to achieve their goals. When I asked my friends what “being Orange” meant to them, each friend shot back with their own interpretation of the understanding of what it means.  Most of the answers received is that “being Orange” means to be committed and/or driven, hardworking, and to have school spirit. They based most of their reasoning on message they got from the Oregon State commercials. “Being Orange” seems to have a different or a somewhat different variation of what it means to each student and professor on campus.

I have a different understanding of what “Be Orange” means to me. Walking around campus, library, MU, and many other places, I see people are always hard at work doing something. There is a strong feeling of ambition and determination here on campus, and to me, this is what “be Orange” means to me, to have ambition. Without strong ambition and determination on campus, I believe Oregon State would not have the reputation that it has now. Ambition is a very important moral value to have because that is what will help you to reach your goals. Oregon States “Be Orange” campaign is there to help us build our moral compass and to keep each student and teacher with the ambition and determination to finish their goals.

Walking around campus, especially during finals and midterms week, is when I see the motto “be Orange” really stood out. This is when the value of ambition is prevalent. But I see ambition on campus all year round. I see “Orange” in the barometer and when I hear about research and positive things that are happening at Oregon State.

The way I try to “Be Orange” is by trying my hardest in all that I do. I try to bring ambition and motivation in to all aspects of my life in order to achieve my long and short-term goals.  To me, “Be Orange” is a great motto because there is so many definitions of what it can be, but it can also help to motivate people and guide them in their schoolwork and overall day-to day life. Because the motto of “Be Orange” can have multiple definitions, it means that it can influence a person life based on what their definition of “be Orange” means to them.

“Being Orange” is being ambitious; it is having the drive and motivation to reach personal short and long term.  It is having the courage and strength to stick to your goals and see them through. The best way to promote “Be Orange” is by exposing it and its multiple definitions to incoming freshman. This would help them to develop a moral compass and to welcome aspects of growing, instead of fearing it. But exposing it to freshman only is not enough, it is important to promote “Be Orange” in all activites/research labs, sporting events, etc. in order to reiterate the meaning. I walk around campus and I see “Be Orange” occasionally, but it would be a good idea to have “Be Ambitious, Be Orange” and “Be You, Be Orange” and any other moral values that you could put into the phrase in order to reiterate that “Be Orange” can have multiple meanings. It is important to develop a strong moral compass to help guide you through life, and “Be Orange” is a great motto to help develop those moral values.