I graduated from college over a year ago and I'm still paying for the 'free stuff'

COD Newsroom / Flickr

When I was in college, I never really attended events on campus. 

I thought they were lame, and who really attended school-sponsored events, anyway?

Now, I realized I messed up. 

Those events weren't actually school-sponsored. They were me-sponsored.

I paid for those events with my tuition, and I'm probably still paying for them in my student loan payments.

It might not be immediately obvious from your tuition and housing bills, but almost everything in college is sponsored by you. It's part of the "fees" universities sneak onto your bill to get you to cover their expenses.

And most of the time, you can't even get out of it.

Those fees can cover everything that helps better your college experience, which might include the salary of your Resident Assistants, buses to take you around campus, the new turf for the  football field, the activities hosted by the school, and everything else in between.

And just because you don't live on campus doesn't mean you can avoid these fees, either.

Regardless of whether or not you go, the events will be happening and those students who do take advantage will be reaping the benefits on your account. Rather than avoiding these "free" activities, it's better to attend and make the most out of the money you paid to be there.

Remember: Nothing in college is free.

NOW WATCH: NASA released the sharpest photos of Pluto in history — and they're spectacular