i gave a fish to everyone in my graduate class. one person cried. others were happy to have a pet, someone waited until the end to pick the 'ugliest' fish that would hopefully live the longest. (which by some strange coincidence has been true.) and it has been a  year now. many of the fish have died, others have changed color, some lived with my turtles for the winter break. (although i had to evacuate the fish when the turtles started getting hungry in spring and ate one of the fish.) overall it has been a strange project about giving a gift that asks a lot back.