Got the T-Shirt

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.  Never do those words seem as true as when I am doing laundry.  I have enough t-shirts to go over a month without washing my clothes.  Today as I was folding my shirts I began to notice things.

For instance, 27 t-shirts came out of the dryer.  This only counts the short-sleeved, cotton t-shirts, I am not including in this number the long-sleeve cotton t-shirts, the sweatshirts, the sweatpants, or the workout clothes.  After folding them I realized that I had paid for exactly three of them.  Of those 27 t-shirts, five of them did not say "Valpo", or "Valparaiso University" on them somewhere.  

About half of the shirts said something about Valpo swimming or Valpo athletics.  That made sense, since as a member of a varsity D1 squad we have to match each other at practices, meets and events.  And since stock is constantly changing, we need to have new matching clothes every year.  After four years with the team, I could probably go a month wearing only "Valpo Swimming" shirts that I have gotten for free.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.  In fact I wholly appreciate the generosity of the athletic department in clothing me.  Not only do I have "Valpo Swimming" wear, I also have a number of "Valpo Athletics" wear, and "Valpo Basketball/Volleyball" wear.  All of this I have gotten from the university by either being a student athlete or supporting a Valpo athletic team.  

This generosity is not limited to just the athletic department.  I have free tees from the Career Center, and UPC (the student planning council).  And let's not forget engineering and engineering societies.  I have shirts from  the Society of Women Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers and their respective conferences.  I have tees just say "Valparaiso University College of Engineering".  So many T-shirts!

I wear these t-shirts all the time.  At work last summer I wore exclusively Valpo t-shirt, to the point where the Iron-Workers started calling me "Val".  

But what will I do with all these free tees after I graduate and have to wear professional clothes all the time?  Make a t-shirt blanket?  Use them as rags?  Throw them out?  I don't know.  But until then I can worry about other things, like what will I have for lunch, or when will I do my homework.  I definitely don't need to worry about what I will wear, Valpo has taken care of that.