Never Studies

Title: Never Studies

General Information about Item:

  • Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Origin: Dartmouth College
  • Informant: Colin Minor
  • Date Collected: February 21, 2018

Informant Data:

  • The informant grew up in a small beach town in North Carolina. He has two parents and one older brother. His father is a doctor and his brother is a school teacher. He is currently a biomedical engineering student at Dartmouth College. He considers himself lazy when it comes to school work, but is always able to get his work or studying done on time.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: Being an engineering major, you take a lot of exams rather than write papers. Because the informant takes a lot of exams, he has learned a lot of different studying techniques throughout his academic career. One particular mathematics professor the informant had at the beginning of his Dartmouth career, Pierre Clare, had many studying techniques that he offered to the students as ways to help them learn the material better for the exams he created. One of the techniques is now his superstition when it comes to taking an exam.
  • Cultural Context: This superstition is common between many different engineering majors through questioning of other engineering students. It is seen as a way to prevent the mind from becoming tired before having to concentrate on an exam.

Item:

  • The particular superstition the informant explained is that he will not study the day of an exam. He believes he will do worse on an exam if he studies the same day as it because his brain will be tired and unable to concentrate as well on the exam. It is seen as a bad luck omen in a way if he studies the day of the exam.

Informant’s Comments:

  • Being mentally tired before an exam can really affect your performance. The stress alone can get to you. This superstition makes me stay calm and relax a bit before an exam.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I would never be able to follow this superstition myself, but I can understand how this could work for some people.

Collector’s Name: Bridget Douglas

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Test
  • Studying