The Law Faculty at Hudson College was supposed to be a place where young minds blossomed, students discovered their passions, and academic dreams took flight.

Behind every student were parents with very high hopes for their son or daughter. For many, those hopes were built on years of hard work and the quiet dreams of a better future.

_______________________________________

This story happened at the dormitory 'Carolina House'. It began when the first-year boarding students discovered, according to them, a terrible injustice: the third-year students had TV sets mounted neatly on the wall, and windows overlooking the university garden and a lake.

On the other hand, first-year students had no TV sets, and their window views were boring —they couldn't see any garden or lake.

The first-year students were outraged. They marched to the administration office, waving photos of the third-year student rooms like evidence in a courtroom drama. The Dean of Student Life, Miss Spring Lee, met with the student representative.

She said, “Oh, it's you again."
She listened to the complaint with attentive grace, though her eyes showed a hint of fatigue.
She said gently: "So, if I have captured your articulate words correctly, your complaint this time is—once again—about nothing that matters: no TV sets and having boring window views ?”
“Yes, Miss Lee,” the student representative replied with a nod. “It seems that it's a little bit inequitable to us.”
The Dean replied. “I very much appreciate that perspective, but...but, may I ask, what do TV or a window view have to do with studying ??”

“Nothing,” the student answered thoughtfully. “But we feel it would contribute greatly to our overall sense of equity.”

The Dean took a slow, steady breath. “Our first-year residences are designed with a philosophy of intentional simplicity. The goal is to provide a serene space, free from the many distractions of the outside world. Many of us found, in our own time, that such focus was a great gift. Can anyone write a great book without focusing on it? Is there any other matter you would like to share with me today?”

The students left furious.

They didn’t want “focus.” They wanted TV, music, a picnic and nice views. The complaints grew louder. The first-year students made posters. They held meetings. They even threatened to start a “Visual & Entertainment Equality Movement.”

The Dean panicked.

She called an emergency meeting with Facilities, Budget, and Procurement.

They reviewed the options:
Buy TVs for first-years → too expensive
Renovate the building → impossible
Ignore the students → risky
Remove TVs from third-year students and ruin their views → cheap

The decision was instant. That night, Facilities removed all TV sets from the third-year students. Then they applied frosted film to their windows, turning their garden views into a blurry white fog. To ensure the third year students also get “boring views”, they parked some broken lawnmowers, a stack of traffic cones, and some rusted wheelbarrows directly outside the third year student wing.
The Dean sent a cheerful email: “We have achieved entertainment and visual equality across all year levels.”
First-year students were horrified.
The Dean smiled. "Didn't you ask for equality? ”

_______________________________________

Jack was one of the third-year law students boarding at Carolina House. His parents ran a law firm. They, like those of other students, also had very high hopes for Jack. They had invested a lot of money in him. However, their investments were only financial. Not anything else -- they were so busy that they were seldom at home. Jack was used to a comfortable and unsupervised life. His roommate Alex had a similar family background.

A week later, Jack spotted some cockroaches crawling across his floor.
“Ugh, this place is infested,” Jack said. “I’m going to complain.”
His roommate Alex, stopped him.
“No, don’t say anything.”
“Why not?”
Alex whispered, “Because if you complain, the administration will ‘solve’ it by putting extra cockroaches in the first-year student rooms. That’s how they fix complaints here.”
Jack froze.
“You’re right,” he said. “We must protect them. Otherwise, everybody would be worse off.”
From that time on, nobody dared to make any further complaint.

Now the third-year students were deprived of TV, sunlight, and scenery. Jack and Alex became bored, so they started going out every day to enjoy themselves. At first, they only visited cinemas and video arcades, but later, they also went to bars and casinos. They spent so much that they were soon left with very little money.
One day, Jack and Alex went out to look for part‑time work and stumbled into a bar. The manager, exhausted and short‑staffed, said to them:
“If any of you want part‑time work, I’ll hire you. But you need to take the Coffee Making Skills Certificate first.”

Jack and Alex looked at each other, smiling. They signed up immediately. The course was not too difficult.
But Jack and Alex took it like a calling, pouring all their time into the course. They enjoyed it and performed very well in the course. They had learned everything about coffee making, even including making the perfect crema and the texture of micro-foam.

Their hard work had not been wasted. When the exam results were posted, they hadn't just passed; they had conquered it. It wasn't just a certificate. It was a triumph. It was the most successful they had felt in years. They had a celebration that night.

Two days later, while Jack and Alex were practising coffee making—happily thinking of the extra income that would be pouring in—suddenly a classmate approached:
"Hey, are you confident about tomorrow's final exam?"
"The final exam is tomorrow??"
Jack and Alex began to panic; they had forgotten they were still enrolled in university.
Assignments were missed.
Lectures were skipped.
Tutorials were abandoned.

By the end of the semester, Jack and Alex failed every single subject. The Dean was horrified by their performance.
Jack and Alex were expelled from university, and their study visas were cancelled.

When they went back to their home country, all they had to show their parents was the Coffee Making Skills Certificate.
Jack's mother said to Jack: "I wanted you to become a barrister, but you became a barista ???"