The Burnt Orange Bouquet

Written by DANIELLA NASSAR

Illustrated by ALYSSA LINDBLOM

LIFE AS A UT STUDENT is like a vibrant bouquet of flowers, carefully picked and designed to capture life’s beauty and vibrance through a colorful lens. A bouquet of flowers is nothing less than marvelous. If you look closely beneath the surface, you will find that each flower is used to complement the surrounding flowers. You will see that each type of flower—no matter how luxurious or delicate—is placed in a position to enhance and augment the surrounding flowers. When appreciating a bouquet, you may notice that each vibrant color contributes to a color scheme that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each flower is unique in its own right, but in concert the entire arrangement ultimately shines brighter than any of them could alone.

The process of creating a bouquet of flowers is much more intricate than it might first appear. After all, there is a lesson that a simple bouquet of flowers can teach us as humans.

A bouquet of flowers might seem as though it was mindlessly put together, but something so beautiful could not be created simply by chance. Each individual flower—from peonies to sunflowers— potrays a unique character and a natural beauty that seems unmatchable. Yet still, when each individual flower is placed together by someone who is an expert at their craft, seemingly discordant aesthetics can sing in harmony.

Similarly, at UT Austin, each student is skilled, curious, experienced, talented, and creative in their own ways. Each UT student has a unique identity that encompasses a wide range of talents, skills, passions, experiences, and characteristics and that ultimately cultivates a diverse and outstanding campus like no other. However, like the bouquet of flowers, when UT students unite, we become a complex environment of students who challenge the expectations, succeed in their academics, reach for the stars, and elevate and expand the campus’s horizon.

Individually, each student is spectacular. But just like the bouquet of flowers that we admire, The University of Texas shines its brightest when UT students unite to create a marvelous burnt orange community. Here at UT, we shine brightest together and showcase a diverse range of talents, skills, and interests. Such brilliance is only seen when we come together as a burnt orange bouquet. It is this burnt orange bouquet that showcases the brilliance of UT students. It is the burnt orange bouquet that fulfills the core values of learning, discovery, and leadership. It is the burnt orange bouquet that leaves a legacy at UT that changes the world for the better. The effects of this burnt orange mark can be seen worldwide, and we are proud of it.