General Information about Item:

• Superstition 
• Material lore
• Language: English 
• Country of Origin: Italy 
• Informant: EM
• Date Collected: 11/07/2021

Informant Data:  EM is a sophomore (‘24) at Dartmouth College. She is from Florida but her parents are Italian and stress on the importance of culture and academic success. 

Contextual Data: EM’s parents also want to teach EM Italian culture. One aspect is a superstition that they taught her to do well on an exam. The folklore that she collected was that it was considered good luck to eat a slice of bread before her exam. She started doing this in middle school, and to this day still does so. This folklore was collected in an in-person interview. 

Item: Before taking an exam, EM’s parents would give her a slice of bread as good luck for her exam. 

Interpretations: I found this compelling because I had never heard of a superstition quite like this one before. It was interesting to see EM describe this superstition because they seemed to be more than happy to share this specific lore. 

Collector’s Name: Isabel Robinson

Tags/Keywords:

• Italy 
• Superstition 
• Bread

General Information about Item:

• Superstition
• Language: English 
• Country of Origin: Cuba
• Informant: JP
• Date Collected: 11/03/2021

Informant Data:  JP was born in Havana, Cuba in 1957. He left Cuba when he was only five years old in 1962. He grew up in Bethesda, Maryland with his four siblings and parents, where he attended Catholic elementary, middle, high schools, and then Boston College. 

Contextual Data: JP was very studious and wanted to do well in school. His goal in high school was to attend Boston College and play soccer there. His parents and himself were extremely Catholic. Before entering a pew in Church, one has to genuflect, however, his parents always told him one has to do so with their right knee touching the ground, never the left knee. From there, he took that into going into classrooms where he had to take a test. He had to enter the room with his right foot first through the doorway or else he would not do well on the exam. He proceeded to do this throughout his entire academic career, even into college. I collected this when I talked with him last year. 

Item: Entering the examination room with your right foot passing through the doorway first.

Interpretations: This was very interesting to me because I was taught the same thing. I went to Catholic school starting when I was five years old, and everyone there also said it must be on the right knee. When told that one time, someone asked why and the teacher responded saying that they were not sure but to do so anyways. 

Collector’s Name: Isabel Robinson

Tags/Keywords:

• Cuba
• Superstition 
• Catholicism

General Information about Item:

• Material lore 
• Superstition 
• Language: English 
• Country of Origin: Germany
• Informant: ID
• Date Collected: 11/07/2021

Informant Data: ID is a sophomore (‘24) at Dartmouth College. She is from Zurich, Switzerland, but both of her parents are from England. She attended the national Zurich National School for 9-12 grades. She explained that one of her math teachers was very superstitious, and taught her one of his superstitions.

Contextual Data: ID has always been extremely studious and wanted to succeed in her school work. A day before a math exam, her math teacher explained to the class that if you wear or have red on you when you are taking a test, it acts like a good luck charm. She explained that her teacher was German and that she practiced this superstition herself when she was in high school after her mother shared this piece of folklore to her and her siblings. The day of the exam, she put her hair up in a ponytail with a red hair tie. She did not want many people to see that she listened to the teacher, so she chose the most discreet way of wearing red possible. The following week, she received her test score back, and she received a 98%. She was overcome with happiness and from that point on, she wore her hair up in a ponytail with a red hair tie for all of her exams to come. I collected this item in an in-person interview.

Item: In German culture, wearing red on the day of an exam brings one luck.

Interpretations: I believe that this is very important to ID because she still does this to this day. She insists on doing so, otherwise, she feels insecure on her exam. She becomes very anxious and frustrated. This acts as a sort of routine for ID, and helps her clear her mind and focus on the exam.

Collector’s Name: Isabel Robinson

Tags/Keywords:

• Material lore 
• Superstition 
• Germany 
• Red

General Information about Item:

• Material lore 
• Superstition
• Language: English 
• Country of Origin: Ukraine 
• Informant: BC
• Date Collected: 11/05/2021

Informant Data: BC is a sophomore at University of Southern California (‘24) from Woodside, California. Her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Armenian. BC’s parents shared many superstitions with her and her younger sister.

Contextual Data: BC obtained this superstition when she was in seventh grade. Her father is a very competitive person, and taught her to attack her fears. A superstition she learned was to use the exact same pencil that she used studying on the test, and, once the test was over, to break the pencil in half. She said that this helps her relieve her stress and anxiety after a test, and helps reassure herself that she worked hard to do well on the exam. She started to do very well on her exams when she began doing this, and continues to do so at University. I witnessed this the first time, after an exam we each had in seventh grade. She explained that her Ukrainian father taught her this, and that his parents shared this piece of folklore with him when he was in middle school in Ukraine. Her father not only shared this piece . I originally collected this piece of folklore in middle school and then re-collected it via a FaceTime interview. 

Item: In Ukrainian households, it brings one good luck on an exam to use the same pencil that you used when studying during the exam itself. After you are done with the exam, you then break the pencil in half as a sign that you have just attacked and overcome your fears. 

Interpretations: I believe that this superstition is very important to BC because it allows her to really focus on the exam, and look forward to doing well on the test. She puts classwork as her number one priority, and it often stresses her out too much. By doing this routine, she is able to calm herself down and understand that everything will be okay, and if she is frustrated after the exam, she can look forward to breaking the pencil. 

Collector’s Name: Isabel Robinson

Tags/Keywords:

• Superstition 
• Material lore 
• Ukraine

General Information about Item:

• Superstition
• Language: English 
• Country of Origin: Poland 
• Informant: EW
• Date Collected 11/07/21

Informant Data: EW is a Senior at Dartmouth College from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He attended Liggett Academy in Michigan and is the son of Polish parents.

Contextual Data: EW has always been very studious but very scatterbrained at the same time. One way that his Polish parents helped tame his scatterbrain was by teaching him a Polish superstition. They shared with him that before every exam or question that you do not understand, simply close your eyes and count to ten. This is a Polish superstition that is known for helping with things that you forget. When counting, you must go in increasing order, not decreasing. If you go in decreasing order, it is a sign of you losing the knowledge that you already had. 

Item: Before taking a test, a student sits down at their desk, counts 1-10. This is viewed as helping those who have scattered brains and need help with decreasing that. 

Interpretations: I believe that this is a very popular superstition that many people, even those that are not Polish, seem to do. It really calms others down and makes them seem gather their bearings prior to an important exam. 

Collector’s Name: Isabel Robinson

Tags/Keywords:

• Superstition 
• Counting
• Poland