Step on a crack? Condolences to your mother’s back. Shatter a mirror? Enjoy your seven-year premium subscription to bad luck. From unlucky numbers to places we avoid, superstitions sneak into our lives, whether rational or not. Here are a few superstitions from students on campus.

“I have a superstition that if I put my jewelry and hair ties and things like that on my right arm instead of my left arm, then while I’m working, I’m going to fail my tests because it’s a distraction to me. I feel like my mom always used to tell me to put all my jewelry on my left arm, so she kind of influenced me in that way.”  

— Kelli Toshima (11) 

“I’m pretty afraid of birds, especially pigeons, because when I was younger, I was attacked by pigeons when leaving a tutoring center in fourth or fifth grade, and I never really recovered from that. I tend to avoid birds out of habit. I’ve gotten better with sparrows and stuff but if I see a pigeon, I’m running the opposite direction.” 

— Alexis Su (12)

“When I’m getting ready for my games… so I put my cleats on, I have to do it in a certain way or else I feel like something’s going to go wrong. And if I don’t say a prayer before my games, something bad’s going to happen to either me or one of my friends. One time I put my cleats on rushing… I wasn’t taking my time with it, and I twisted my ankle and it hurt really bad.”

— Kaylee Jones (10) 

“A superstition that I have is that if I don’t dry a table when it’s wet, I think it’s going to rot. When I was younger, my mom always made me wipe down our kitchen tables. So now every time I see a wet table, even at school, I have to wipe it down. I think I’m just mostly reminded of what my mom said but it also bothers me if I don’t.” 

— Jayden Wan (11)