THE BATTALION
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Knock on Wood
Students incorporate superstition into their daily lives
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By Amanda Trimble
THE BATTALION
Six Cheng, a sophomore biomedical science major, relies on breakfast bun i-
isand fruit drinks to pass her 8 a.m. physics tests. So far, the results have been
ighA’s every time.
"Iget up at 4:30 or 5 a.m. before the test and go to the same gas station and
uy the same breakfast burrito and fruit drink." Cheng said. “ Then I go home and
udy at the dining room table until 1 have to leave. People think it's weird, but it
iorks every time.”
Many people do not realize they are superstitious until they stop and look at some
f their everyday habits. The word superstition usually reminds students of black cats
rthe number 13. but something as simple as saying “God bless you” is a supersti-
vsT on.According to infoplease.com, in the Middle Ages it was a common belief that
iy icdevil could enter a person while they were sneezing. Saying “God bless you ’ was
leant to protect that person, and the superstition is still a tradition today.
Although most superstitions are not as common as saying “God bless you.’ many
udents say the little things they do may affect their luck.
Jesse-Larou Walsh, a junior math major, has Irish superstitions she acquired from
crfamily heritage.
“1 never walk out a different door than I came in. It’s an Irish superstition,
/alshsaid. “If I walk out a different door, it’s supposed to bring bad luck.
"Also, anytime I find a penny or a dime on the ground, and only if it’s heads
t ,i'll pick it up and put it in my left shoe,” Walsh said. “I don't know it it’s a
aneof mind or actual good luck, but I just have a better day.”
When it comes to taking tests. Walsh sticks to the traditional Aggie superstition
[visiting the Sul Ross statue.
“I always put a penny on Sully's left shoe before I go take a test,” Walsh said.
Iknow it works because before my last two tests, I didn't go do it and 1 didn t
bwellon them.”
Shannon Ensom. hall director of Lechner Hall, is superstitious when talking
iut things that have not happened.
“I knock on wood all the time. It just seems like the easiest thing to do,
insomsaid. “There’s that fear that if you say something before it happens, you 11
inxit.”
J Superstitions also play an important role for athletes. Tim Petru, a junior mar-
Aii Ittingmajor and third baseman for the Aggie baseball team, has a very specific way
entering the batting box.
The first time I get in the box, I have to smooth out the dirt and make it perfect,
[very time after that, I have to hit each shoe and then tap the outer comer and the
nercomerof the plate with my bat,” Petru said. "Then I T1 get in the box, and I m
ready to bat. Sometimes I don’t even know I’m doing it.”
Other superstitions are shared by the entire team. Petru said when the count is
all twos, players will rub the bills of their caps, then take them off and shake them
when the pitcher winds up. Another superstition starts when the team is losing a
game. If someone gets a run, everyone will have to stand in the same spot they
were in before, Petru said.
“We'll all go give the guy a high
five, but then someone will „
yell ‘same spots,’ T
and we have
to go
back
to the
same spot
we were
standing in when he got the run,”
Petru said.
“You could say it’s a superstation
that has turned into a habit,” Abbott
said. “I think someone told me once
to do it for good luck. Now it has
stuck.”
“You could say it's a superstition that
has turned into a habit,” Abbott said. “I
think someone told me once to do it for
good luck. Now it has stuck.”
Abbott said she and her roommate, Jackie Johnson, a
sophomore journalism major, also have superstitions
at home. For example, when the time reads 11:11,
they make a wish.
“It gets compulsive,” Abbott said.
FRANK CHANCE • THE BATTALION
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517.50
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Director of Hillel Foundation, Rabbi Peter Tarlow
VP of Diversity & People Development, HEB, Winell Herron
Texas State Representative District 115, Mike Villarreal
Prof of Recreation, Parks, Tourism, and Sports, Dr. David Scott
Director of Admissions, Dr. Frank Ashley
Prof of SCOM, Moderator: Dr. Marshall Scott Poole
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