Davi is a USC alumni that has been working in Los Angeles since he graduated. I met him in one of the Brazilian Student Association events during my freshman year. He is a good friend and never abandoned his Brazilian roots. He talked about his birthdays and how he makes a wish every time he blows the candle. Here is his story:

My tradition is making a wish before blowing the candles on my birthday. I first heard it when I was five years old from my mother and it’s a tradition that has been in my family for ages, so it’s important for me because I really believe that making a wish before blowing my candle, it’s going to become real. I have made some wishes that have turned into reality so I will continue doing that for my upcoming birthdays. I will also pass this tradition to my children, because apart from being something that goes through my family I think that having faith is an important part of life. You have to first believe in something and then fight for it and in my opinion it is a good way to start by making those wishes during your birthday.

Davi appears to be a superstitious person because he has been sticking to this tradition since he was little. I think he started to believe heavily in making wishes before blowing the candles because it is something that has been passing down through generations in his family that is always meaningful to people. I think that having heard about this tradition when he was a young boy also encouraged him to keep doing it because as children we tend to believe in things more easily. Furthermore, Davi said that some of his wishes during birthdays have become reality; as a consequence, he continues to blow candles and make wishes in hopes of realizing all of his other dreams. In fact, I make wishes every time I blow the candles on my birthday; I believe it’s something really common.

Academic source:

https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-we-blow-out-birthday-candles