For millennia, various social groups have lived under the invisible hand of superstition. Notable groups of superstitious individuals include baseball players, sailors, almost everyone in the 11th century and of course, pirates (See: Black Spot).

Superstition, according to the ever changing fount of knowledge that is Wikipedia, “is the irrational belief that future events are influenced by specific behaviors,” such as the belief that a certain item of clothing will bring you fame, fortune and fertility. Here we shall examine my favorite superstition, that of lucky items.

Commonly known lucky charms are hearts, stars, horseshoes, clovers and blue moons. In college charms often present themselves as something small and easily concealable.

Smaller, por-table items are more con-venient (you would not get much success with a lucky grandmother, or a good-for-tune toaster), and easy to deny the existence of embarrassing items (lucky false teeth, Spiderman undies).

They are an integral part of campus culture, especially among the students who don’t study often enough. In addition to studying, many students have certain luck rituals they perform before an exam (also pertains to job interviews, first dates and sky diving).

Myself, I have about nine superstitious traditions : I carry my fluorite crystal with me. I must at all times be wearing my high school class ring, a particular neck-lace, and tall socks. I always listen to the Tenacious D song “Tribute” right before I leave my dorm room (See: Greatest Song in the World, Demons) and take the long way to the exam room to get into the right mindset. I must (repeat MUST) take the exam with my favorite vibrating pen. Please, don’t ask.

I once endured an especially frightening moment when, on the way to a math exam that seemed particularly homicidal, when I was unable to play “Tribute” before I entered the testing area! I thought for sure I was doomed. However, on the way back to my dorm, head hung low, I listened to songs at random: and right before I crossed the street, the first chords of my good luck song danced into my ears. Yet I am nervous about what this inverse of tradition could mean for my math grades.

Interesting luck facts: Pigs are lucky in Germany. The Irish have been scien-tifically proven to be 30% luckier than the average American, except pertaining to potatoes and breakfast ce-reals. If you write the word luck too many times, it loses its meaning. If you say it too many times, you sound like a chicken (try it!).