“Who doesn’t appreciate free stuff? It’s true that Student Appreciation Day is a nice thought for returning students and a warm welcome to freshmen, but is it really free? If you really stop to think about it, doesn’t our tuition contribute towards this event in one way or another? So really, what we have here is an organized event put together for students, which was ultimately paid for by students, and if anything, they are getting back less than what they originally spent.”
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Who doesn’t appreciate free stuff?

It’s true that Student Appreciation Day is a nice thought for returning students and a warm welcome to freshmen, but is it really free?

If you really stop to think about it, doesn’t our tuition contribute towards this event in one way or another?

So really, what we have here is an organized event put together for students, which was ultimately paid for by students, and if anything, they are getting back less than what they originally spent.

How much could it possibly cost for a cheap screen-printed fabric T-shirt and a slice of pizza?

Compare that to the constant increase in tuition every year and students might begin to feel a bit less appreciated.

If given the option, wouldn’t most students prefer to keep some of their hard earned cash?

If that were the case, it’d be hard to find too many people running down campus screaming but what about my free T-shirt? I want a prize!

When you borrow something from a friend and later return it, you don’t call it a prize, that’s something you win.

You simply define it as returning what was borrowed, or a refund. How would you feel if you gave someone a large sum of money and all you got back was a slice of pizza?

The least you could do is give them a whole pie, but for some reason, perhaps so that no one feels inadequately treated, students are given a limit to how much free stuff they can get.

On the sake of common sense, something that is free is something given without any collateral, so why hold back?

If free is really free, then no one should feel short-changed because they had nothing to lose in the first place.

On a more extreme note, consider this as well: If students would take a look at the shirt tag, they may notice the shirt itself claims it was made in Nicaragua.

Any humanitarian might wonder just how much those guys are getting paid and more importantly, where does the rest go?

In short, free things are great, but only if they are really free.

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