After five career fairs, three awards articles, and some occasional criticism, I'm back one last time. Unless they make free stuff judging an Olympic event, you'll never see my awards again. Every September, representatives from over 150 companies set up tables in Harrington and sometimes Alden on a Wednesday afternoon to promote their companies and take resumes from students looking for jobs.
Most companies give away items of some sort in order to attract the attention of students.
More recently, the company representatives have started trying to attract my attention and get mentioned in these awards - many even ask what they can bring next time to win an award. Five years ago, I attended my first career fair after seeing what my roommates brought back. The next year, I spent a lot of time at the career fair and brought back a lot of free stuff. I did the same three years ago, and it was then that I came up with the idea of the Free Stuff Awards. The large pile of assorted items was sorted into categories and I decided the winners and runners up for each category.