Junior accounting major Amalia Paez said she was “having a crappy day” Wednesday, until she won a Samsung HD TV on campus.
“Now my day has turned out pretty good so far,” Paez said as she walked towards the parking lot with both arms wrapped around her prize. “I mean, I only got one ticket so this is really cool. My son will love it.”
Free food and gadget giveaways led a flock of students to gather in front of Amazon’s set-up near the University Student Union’s ground floor entrance on Tuesday and Wednesday, where high-tech devices were raffled off.
“We were on campus yesterday and today to give away back-to-school essentials and other prizes and let [CSULB] students know about all the great things Amazon has to offer,” Amazon Spokeswoman Brittany Turner said.
Students lined up to play games for a chance to win Amazon gift cards and other prizes.
Prizes included a Roku streaming device, a Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee maker, a Nintendo 3DS, a Kindle Fire HDX and a Google Chromebook.
Junior business major Jacqui Henderson said she saw the booth on her way to get coffee and felt that it was her lucky day.
“I’m going to win,” Henderson said before the raffle. “I’m just here to pick up my prize, so I don’t know what anyone else is doing.”
For freshman pre-nursing major Ana Sierra, staking out at the booth in between classes on both days paid off.
“I can’t believe it. I’m like, shaking with excitement,” Sierra said, holding on to her Google Chromebook. “I don’t have a laptop. I’ve been looking for something to do my homework with, and I’ve been here during every single raffle, and I haven’t won anything, but today I just thought, ‘OK, I guess I’ll stay.’”
Junior kinesiology major Matthew Shihab, who won a Kindle Fire HDX, said he missed class to hear the winners announced.
“This is a pretty good excuse, so my professor can’t be that mad,” he said.
At the event, Amazon representatives also publicized Amazon Student, a half-priced subscription of Amazon Prime that offers free two-day shipping on certain items as well as access to other exclusive deals, according to Amazon’s website.
Turner said all college students who have a valid student email address can get a free Amazon Student trial for six months. After that period, students who choose to sign up can do so for $39 per year for four years.
“We’ve been visiting colleges and universities for several semesters now,” Turner said. “But we hope to be back soon.”