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.

Title: Lucky Pencil

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Katherine Cane was born on August 10th, 1999 in Walnut Creek, California. Her family currently resides in Orinda, California. She is a ’21 at Dartmouth studying Mathematics. Katherine would love to pursue either a career in engineering or finance. She is a very spiritual and superstitious person.

• Contextual Data:

Social Context:

• The data was collected in person in the Jones Media Center. Paul asked Katherine if she had any pre-exam superstitions or rituals and gave her a minute to think before responding. Katherine uses the same pencil for every exam. She noticed her best friend in high school using the same pencil during exams and asked her why. Her friend responded that she only gets good grades when she uses that pencil, which relaxes her and mentally prepares her to take the exam. Katherine tried it for one exam and did very well. She continues this exa superstition to this day.

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:

• Katherine claimed to be a very superstitious person. For the past three years, prior to any math exam, she must have her lucky pink pencil. Katherine thinks that her special pencil brings her good luck and success; without it she feels lost and confused. She has only attempted one exam question without her pencil, but could not figure it out until she switched to it mid-exam.

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

• IMG_9918 2

Transcript of Associated File:

I’ve used the same pencils on every math exam for the past three years… I don’t do well without those pencils… I tried to do the first problem on the last test without a pencil. I could not figure it out until I switched pencils.

Collector’s Comments:

• When presenting this folklore to the class, everyone laughed. Although it may seem stupid and unrealistic, Katherine genuinely believes her pencil is lucky and will propel her to success.

Collector’s Name: Paul Cane

Tags/Keywords: Physical Charm. Contagious Magic. Superstition.

Title: Lucky Pencil

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Megan Crook was born on March 28th, 1997 in San Jose, California. Her family currently resides in Alamo, California. Megan is a ’19 at Dartmouth studying Japanese. Megan would love to pursue a career in Sales & Trading in Tokyo, Japan. Megan is a very quiet and superstitious person.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • The data was collected in person on the first floor of the Berry Library. Paul asked Megan if she had any pre-exam superstitions or rituals and gave her a minute to think before responding. Megan uses the same pencil during exams that she used on practice problems. She does this because she believes that using this pencil while doing practice problems can translate to a better understanding of the material during the exam. She started to do this ritual after speaking with one her teammates, Katherine, who also uses a lucky pencil.

• 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:
  • Megan is both very quiet and superstitious. Upon asking her if she has any pre-exam rituals or superstitions, she immediately responded that she has to use her “lucky pen” both on the practice test and actual exam. Similar to Katherine Cane and her lucky pencil, Megan believes she will not perform on an exam without her pen. She said she has never attempted to take a Japanese exam without it. “If I tried to write Japanese with another writing implement, it wouldn’t work,” she said. She started using her lucky pen when she heard that her teammate did the same thing and it worked for her teammate.

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

Transcript of Associated File: 

When I take practice tests with a specific pen, I have to take the test with the same pen… I guess I think I won’t do well on the test if I don’t use the same pen.

Collector’s Comments: 

• While it may seem silly, Megan religiously uses the same pen on practice exams and the real test — she cannot thrive unless she does so.

Collector’s Name: Paul Cane

Tags/Keywords: Physical Charm. Diffusion. Superstition.

Title: Lucky Pencil

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Karel Raska was born in Morristown, New Jersey, on June 10 1998. His father is a cardiologist and his mother is an internist. Karel has a twin sister who also attends Dartmouth College. He was brought up in a trilingual home and splits his time between the United States and the Czech Republic. Karel is an Economics Earth Science modified major at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • The data was collected over the phone while Karel was visiting his parents at home. He was alone when describing how he prepares for exams and why he does certain rituals before every test. He spoke to his sister who also does a similar ritual for exams and wanted to replicate this ritual to see how well we would do on exams. The folklore is performed before an exam or presentation which is usually in a high pressure context where Karel is expected to outperform his peers.

• Cultural Context
  • The cultural context of this folklore is typical of a competitive college setting where every grade matters towards a GPA goal and there is a lot of pressure to perform not only at your best but better than your peers. Therefore, this is a high stress environment where competition between peers is obvious and very common.
• Item:
  • “I use my same lucky pencil for every exam. It is a blue mechanical pencil that I bought when I came to Dartmouth. The first test I used it on, I did pretty well. I got above median, which was very good for me considering that I did not study for it nearly as much as I should have. I then spoke with my sister, who also goes to Dartmouth, and she told me how she uses the same pencil for every exam. I thought that was a neat idea, and it could help me relieve some stress during an exam knowing that I am using a pencil that I performed well with before. I then continued to use this pencil since, and I have performed well on all the of the exams that I have taken with it.”

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

Collector’s Comments:

• Even though this ritual may sound slightly unrealistic, Karel was very convinced of it’s effectiveness in helping him do well on exams at Dartmouth

Collector’s Name: Magdalena Raska 

Tags/Keywords: Charm. Diffusion. Superstition.

Title:

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Lily Clark was born in Orange County, California, on December 2, 1997.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context

• Cultural Context
  • Item:

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Collector’s Comments:

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General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

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Item:

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Tags/Keywords:

Title: Meditation

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Paula was born in Los Angeles, California on November 15, 1996. Her mother is a nurse at a Los Angeles Hospital. Paula is an Asian American, and her family origins are Filipino, so her background is Western and Southeast Asian. She is Junior at Dartmouth College, studying Cognitive Science and Linguistics. She went to Marymount for High School. Paula dances in SHEBA and is a tour guide in her free time.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • The data was collected in in Baker Library. She was alone when describing how she prepares for exams and why she does certain rituals before every test. The folklore is performed the morning of an exam or presentation which is usually in a high pressure context where Paula is expected to outperform her peers.

• 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:This lore was recorded during a conversation. Early the morning of an exam, Paula wakes up at 4 am and meditates on the floor of her dorm room for 30 minutes. During her sophomore year at Dartmouth, Paula was very nervous for an exam and could not sleep. After hours of tossing and turning, Paula decided instead to do some meditation to calm her nerves, something that she observed a member of SHEBA doing prior to an exam. After about 30 minutes of meditation, Paula felt much more relaxed and proceeded to do very well on that exam. Ever since then, Paula has continued this pre-exam ritual.

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

Collector’s Comments:

• Paula described to me a pre-exam ritual of hers. Paula first heard of mediating prior to an exam by a friend of hers on the SHEBA dance team. Paula noticed how much it helped her friend, so she decided to give it a try as well. By mediating early in the morning before her exam, she goes into the exam feeling refreshed and calm. This directly translated into a great score on her exam, so she has been performing the ritual ever since. This is considered folklore since the mediation ritual spread from Paula’s friend on SHEBA to Paula.

Collector’s Name: Magdalena Raska 

Tags/Keywords: Homeopathic Magic. Ritual. Diffusion.

• Title: Meditation Before an Exam
• General Information about Item:
  • Ritual
  • English
  • United States
• Informant Data
  • Kenna van Steyn was born on July 18th, 1999 in Walnut Creek, California. Her family currently resides in Lafayette, California. She is a ’21 at Dartmouth studying Neuroscience. She hopes to pursue a career in Psychology after Dartmouth. Kenna does not consider herself very superstitious.  

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • The data was collected in person in the Baker-Berry Library. Paul asked Kenna if she had any pre-exam superstitions or rituals and gave her a minute to think before responding. Kenna said she bathroom meditates because she saw a few of her classmates doing it before their first neuroscience midterm. She immediately adopted the folklore and has done it ever since.
• 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:
  • Although Kenna said she didn’t have any pre-exam superstitions, she did practice a ritual. Before walking into an exam room, Kenna always goes to the bathroom and meditates. She takes 5 deep breaths, taking care to stand as tall as possible. Kenna feels that it is important to slow down and calm the body before going into a stressful situation.

• Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
  • IMG_9922 2

  Transcript of Associated File:

• I actually do have a ritual. Before every test, I was once told by someone that it’s good to act big. So I go into the bathroom and put my hands onto my hips and I’ll just act really strong and powerful and just stand there for a second.
• Collector’s Comments:
  • Kenna explained to me her pre-exam ritual of mediation. She saw some of her classmates from her neuroscience class meditating in the bathroom prior to their exam, so she decided to give it a try. She immediately noticed how calm it made her and it ended up working well so she has been performing the bathroom mediation ritual ever since. This is considered folklore since the ritual spread from Kenna’s neuroscience classmates to Kenna.

   

• Collector’s Name: Miranda Greig
• Tags/Keywords: Ritual. Homeopathic Magic. Diffusion.

Title: Sleeping in Dartmouth Gear #3

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Lily Clark was born in Orange County, California, on December 2, 1997. Her father owns a landscaping company and mother her mom is a real estate agent. Lizzie is an American Caucasian, but her family origins are Mexican and English so her background is Central American and Western. She is sophomore at Dartmouth College, studying Economics. Lizzie  participates in the Dartmouth Outing Club and the First Generation Club in her free time

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • The data was collected during a one on one interview in Kresge Library. Lily described a ritual she performs the night before a Dartmouth exam. She described the high stress that exams cause and how this ritual helps her cope with it. She started wearing Dartmouth gear to bed in college because she heard from some of her upperclassmen friends that they wear Dartmouth gear to bed to help cope with the high-stress environment.

• 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:

• On the day before every exam, Lily puts on her favorite Dartmouth sweatpants. She bought it at the bookstore her freshman year and thinks it improves her test performance. She received her first 100 on a biology exam when she wore the sweatpants and has worn them for every exam ever since. She believes that wearing the sweatpants to bed will instill in her the collective knowledge of Dartmouth symbolically. She heard about this ritual from her upperclassman teammate who was telling her about how he copes with stressful exams at Dartmouth.

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

Collector’s Comments:

• Lily explained a ritual that she performs the night before an exam. She told me that she learned of this ritual from an upperclassman teammate of hers so she decided to give it a try by wearing a pair of Dartmouth sweatpants that she bought from the bookstore her freshman year to bed the night before an exam and it worked well for her so she continues to practice this ritual. This is considered folklore since the ritual was passed from Lily’s teammate to Lily.

Collector’s Name: Elizabeth Khusid

Tags/Keywords:

• Ritual. Contagious Magic. Diffusion.

Title: Sleeping in Dartmouth Gear #2

General Information about Item:

• Ritual

• English

• United States

Informant Data:

• Parker was born in Rochester, New York on September 4, 1997. His father is a financial consultant and his mother is a homemaker. Parker is an American Caucasian, and his family origins are English and German so his background is Western. He is sophomore at Dartmouth College, studying History and Economics. He went to Groton for High School. Parker sings in an a capella group in his free time.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • The data was collected in Parker’s dorm room. He was alone when describing how he prepares for exams and why he does certain rituals before every test. The folklore is performed the night before an exam or presentation which is usually in a high pressure context where Parker is expected to outperform his peers.

• 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:

• This lore was recorded during a conversation. The night before an exam, Parker wears a specific Dartmouth t-shirt to bed. During his Freshman year of high school, Parker was really nervous and felt very unprepared for his chemistry exam. He remembered that in high school, he had a friend who would wear a school t-shirt before exams. Parker decided to try it out for this exam and the night before the exam, he wore a Dartmouth green t-shirt to bed. He then proceeded to do very well on his exam. During his next test, he did not wear that shirt and did poorly. Since then, he has worn his Dartmouth shirt to bed before every exam he has taken.

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

Collector’s Comments:

• Parker explained how he began performing this particular ritual. He noted that a friend from high school wore a school t-shirt to bed on the night before an exam. He then gave it a try by wearing a green Dartmouth t-shirt to bed before the night of an exam and he ended up performing very well on the exam and has proceeded to perform the same ritual ever since. This is considered folklore because the ritual spread from Parker’s friend from high school to Parker.

Collector’s Name: Elizabeth Khusid

Tags/Keywords:

• Ritual. Contagious Magic. Diffusion.