I still remember one time late freshman year when I was taking my math test, and no matter what I just couldn’t seem to focus. And it wasn’t that I was thinking about summer vacation, or the fact that I didn’t know half the content (that was a separate issue). I was worried that I was taking the test without wearing my lucky test-taking Taylor Swift hoodie — instead of focusing on the actual problems, all I could think about was how I was going to fail without it.
Some of the most intriguing parts of people are their beliefs and values, especially those silly little superstitions we all have. I’m an avid believer in superstitions, to the point where my friends have serious concerns about my sanity. But often, what happens is my determination to follow through on my superstitions can cause a lot of anxiety.
There have been way too many times when I’ve sabotaged myself by worrying about not following through on my superstitions. Unfortunately, my superstitions surrounding math test-taking dress codes are probably the most prominent in my life, though they haven’t been the same throughout my math career.
For geometry tests in 7th grade, I would wake up promptly at 6 a.m. (miraculously without an alarm, like my body knew it was test day) and paint my nails an emerald green when the sun wasn’t even up. Somehow, I was more focused on following through with painting my nails green than actually studying in the morning.
Then, my first semester of 9th grade, my test-taking superstitions took a turn from nail polish to clothing. I convinced myself that I absolutely needed to wear my “standard test outfit” — a rainbow long-sleeved shirt, flared jeans and my gray “All Too Well” hoodie — in order to do well. I came to this realization after I had worn this outfit to both a math test and history test and did surprisingly well. But for some reason, this changed in the second semester when I started to opt for a blue knit sweater with a black puffer jacket instead. You cannot imagine the pain I went through wearing the sweater and puffer jacket as temps soared in June — I genuinely contemplated my life choices.
Funnily enough, last year, my superstitions turned a complete 180. After completely bombing my first calculus test while wearing my classic Taylor Swift Eras Tour sweatshirt, I decided that wearing anything Taylor Swift-related would actually bring me bad luck — a more difficult superstition to follow by far, considering 90% of my wearable wardrobe is related to Taylor Swift.
I’ve even carried my love for superstitions to my friend group. My friends and I have also started doing group superstitions where we all follow the same thing. Last October, we started stepping into Chemistry class right foot first on test days. At first, we thought it was working when we all received gorgeous A’s scribbled on our test.
But, the next test our superstition failed us. Right after, we decided to perform a series of experiments which included jumping into classrooms, walking backwards into classrooms, left foot steps and taking three deep breaths exactly five steps away from the classrooms (people definitely thought we were crazy); unfortunately, none of them turned out to be too successful.
These strange superstitions don’t only apply to my academics — they also apply to extracurriculars. For robotics competitions, I have a strict dress code of not wearing black ripped jeans. I wore them during our second competition where almost everything in the robot broke apart, so I decided that re-wearing the pants was a chance not worth taking (also the fact that the jeans were super bad quality and ripped even more that day).
But I’ve found my attachment to superstitions is most affected by the toxic Instagram reels that pop up on my feed — the ones that say things like “Follow or you’ll be bald by 30” or “Comment or you’ll die tomorrow.” For some reason, I feel compelled to follow the instructions in each one. As a result, I now follow at least 50 random accounts and have an absurd number of bizarre reels saved. So, if you ever see one of those reels liked by me, please understand: I’ve been a little too deeply tied to my superstitions.
Following these superstitions too religiously can also result in unhealthy and repetitive habits, such as fear of germs or order, commonly associated with conditions such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
And although these habits aren’t the healthiest, I’ve noticed that I tend to feel much calmer when my day follows a familiar routine or when certain things happen — such as wearing my good-luck clothes — that signal everything is going “right.” It gives me a sense of comfort that things are in order, even if it’s just in my head.
I also find it really fascinating to hear about the superstitions other people have, because most of them are so unique to each person or each friend group.
Many people seem to have their own little quirks or beliefs that help them in different ways, and learning about them makes me feel a bit more connected to others — all of us clinging to questionable superstitions in the rapid waters of life’s stresses.
