I have often found it extremely difficult to explain to people why and how Oregon State has impacted me. Yet after reading these articles, in particular River magic, I am able to shed a unique light on my experience at Oregon State.
“It is magical.” When this idea regarding the rafting trip was on the slide on Wednesday and the question was discussed I honestly was dumbfounded on how my experience at Oregon State University could be considered magical. I spent four years, two years dual enrolled with Linn Benton Community College and two years solely at Oregon State and it made me think, “Sure I had a good time, but when it comes down to it, I probably could have had a good time anywhere. There’s nothing magical about being a student at Oregon State.” I could only see OSU as a place to gain an education, not the difference between expectations and performance. Yet as I began to ponder my Oregon State experience I began to see parallels with the River Magic article and the potential ‘magic’ I may have experienced. I feel that by reading River Magic I was able to shed a new and unique light on my experience at Oregon State University.
Oregon State created an environment that masked the background and created an experience that was affective. When I delve into reminiscing about my Oregon State experience I realize that it is not the registering, the Scantrons or even the actual grades that I remember, rather it is the emotions encircling the receipt of a grade. It is the triumph of the ‘A’, the contentment of a ‘B’, the frustration of a ‘C’ and the stabbing pain of a ‘Fail’. The experience grows past the background noise, and enters an emotional rollercoaster that dictates the end result of the overall experience. My grade point average tells me nothing about my experience at OSU, yet the sum total of the emotions surrounding grades does. If there was a value that could be placed on the highs and lows of each term, that would be the number that affected my experience.
“Trial and Error”, considering my Oregon State experience from a narrative perspective allow me to consider the countless mistakes I have made along the way. Hindsight allows us to see my own decisions contrasted against the scope of an entire experience. To say that my narrative had “trial and error” would be an understatement. I failed tests, chose not to study and slept in instead of going to class. For example I once stood in line for Civil War football tickets instead of taking a Business Law quiz. I definitely made my share of “errors”. Yet it was this process that defined my narrative. It was learning from these mistakes through the consequences that I received. It was specific consequences, like the disappointing “C” in Business Law, which taught me lessons throughout college.
Oregon State was my ultimately a pilgrimage. Oregon State University provided me a ritualistic process that grew me into the person I am today. Throughout the last four years I have seen myself separate, transition and reintegrate. Pilgrims voluntarily leave their homes and disengage from their ordinary life and this is what makes the experience so unique and impactful. I still remember the day when my parents drove off in the green Ford and I was on my own. I was my own person, I chose my path, and I defined my future. I probably didn’t always make the wisest choice, like staying up all night playing Xbox, yet in hindsight this was part of my pilgrimage. It was adapting myself, maturing as student and simply growing up. The idea of the rite of intensification has also been very evident. I moved into a Co-Op my sophomore years and I created bonds/friendships with other students that will last a lifetime. While I was there, I was immersed in an environment filled with people in the pilgrimages similar to my own. I made friends who I will know my entire life In fact I even met my fiancé at the Co-Op. My fiancé and I will have a experience together now. If it wasn’t for my experience at Oregon State University and the choices I made along the way we never would have met. I now have a story, a pilgrimage and a ritual.
By reading these two articles, in particular River Magic, I now have a new outlook on my Oregon State University experience. When someone asks me to explain what being a student at OSU was like, I will tell them the following. Being at Oregon State was the best experience to date in my life. It was the hardest, the most fun and yet the most challenging. I was affected by it, I created a narrative because of it and I experienced a ritual by completing it. It’s not my GPA that defined my experience, it’s not the number of OSU football games that were wins and it’s not even the information I learned about business and marketing that defines my experience. Rather it was growing up, it was learning to fall, it was learning to get back up, it was the friendships built, it was falling in love and it was finding out who I am. It was magic.
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