Thanks for the help, Dicts was defiantly the way to look at it. And even though this is probably not the most refined answer, here is what I will be using:
arrow_dict = {'desc_part_number': 'not_selected',
'asc_part_number': 'not_selected',
'desc_product_serial_number': 'not_selected',
'asc_product_serial_number': 'not_selected',
'desc_result': 'not_selected',
'asc_result': 'not_selected',
'desc_date_time': 'not_selected',
'asc_date_time': 'not_selected',
'desc_location_of_test': 'not_selected',
'asc_location_of_test': 'not_selected',
'desc_test_equipment_set': 'not_selected',
'asc_test_equipment_set': 'not_selected'
}
selected_column = my_order_direction+'_'+order_column
print('************************************'+selected_column+'*************************************')
arrow_dict.update({selected_column: 'selected'})
desc_part_number_final = arrow_dict['desc_part_number']
asc_part_number_final = arrow_dict['asc_part_number']
desc_product_serial_number_final = arrow_dict['desc_product_serial_number']
asc_product_serial_number_final = arrow_dict['asc_product_serial_number']
desc_result_final = arrow_dict['desc_result']
asc_result_final = arrow_dict['asc_result']
desc_date_time_final = arrow_dict['desc_date_time']
asc_date_time_final = arrow_dict['asc_date_time']
desc_location_of_test_final = arrow_dict['desc_location_of_test']
asc_location_of_test_final = arrow_dict['asc_location_of_test']
desc_test_equipment_set_final = arrow_dict['desc_test_equipment_set']
asc_test_equipment_set_final = arrow_dict['asc_test_equipment_set']