In my freshman year, I won a raffle. Then, I won two more in my sophomore year.
Thomas Jefferson University always holds an involvement fair within the first few weeks of classes where many student clubs attempt to recruit people into their program. These students would stop at nothing to attract attention to their club. From offering free food, and stickers to even holding raffles or challenges to win big prizes as a reward for their interest. The whole event is a goldmine for any college student. So, I did what any starry-eyed freshman did: I visited every table.
As a commuter, I visited the commuter table, where in exchange for following their Instagram account, I could put my name into their raffle for the chance to win a $20 Wawa gift card. A couple of days later, I had completely forgotten about it until I received an email from the Office of Student Engagement congratulating me on my win! I could not believe my luck! I wondered just how many kids entered the raffle and how lucky I was to have won. Unfortunately, despite my attempts, I would not go on to win anymore during my freshman year.
This year, I found a lucky duck – something I had coveted since last year’s lucky ducky event. I remember telling my friends that if they ever were to find one, I wanted to keep it after they got whatever prize they were entitled to. I like birds and that duck would fit into my collection. As I walked up to cash in my prize, I realized that my duck did not guarantee me a prize – it just gave me an extra ticket to raffle. So, while looking at my options, I decided to place the two tickets I received from the ducks and the third one from completing the student life open house bingo card into the raffle to win a $100 campus bookstore gift card. I won! I couldn’t believe it.
A week later, the involvement fair took place right outside Kanbar. And once again, I entered the commuter raffle. I really wasn’t expecting anything, but looking at the prizes, I was eyeing the art supply set. There were also JBL headphones and neon lights up for grabs. Later that afternoon, I got an email about my “winner” status for neon lights. Two prizes within the first few weeks of school – I was so amazed at my luck, yet also a little afraid. What if my luck had run out? I won’t know until the next raffle, but for now, I’d say I’m pretty lucky.