Title: Fast Lane

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Jamir Pleitez was born in Beverly Hills, California, on March 28, 1997. His  father is an engineer for Boeing and his mother is a stay at home mom. Jamir is an American, but his family origins are Spanish so his background is Western European. He is junior at Dartmouth College, studying history as a pre-med student. Jamir participates in the Dartmouth Men’s Water Polo Team and Sigma Phi Epsilon in his free time.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • Jamir was talking to his water polo teammates about pre-exam coping mechanisms and heard that many of them meditate before exams. He has horrible pre-exam anxiety, so he decided to modify their meditation to best fit his study style. The data was collected in an interview in Novack Cafe.

• Cultural Context
  • The cultural context of this folklore reflects the competitive atmosphere of Dartmouth college, where every grade impacts as student’s GPA. Students at an Ivy League do not just try to succeed in their classes, but to outperform their peers. As a result of this high stress environment, students may turn to superstitions or ritual to lessen the pressure.
• Item:
  • As mentioned above, Jamir listens to“Fast Lane” by Eminem while walking to his exam. Jamir modified traditional meditation by blasting “Fast Lane” while walking to the exam. 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Collector’s Comments:

• Jamir said he loves this ritual because it isolates him from his surroundings, allowing him to get psyched for his exam. Instead of stressing and potentially over thinking questions he just hummed the lyrics to Fast Lane and performed better.

Collector’s Name:  Elizabeth Khusid

Tags/Keywords: Ritual. Diffusion. Homeopathic Magic.