Tag Archives: student

Lucky Pencil

Text:

“Growing up, starting in late middle school and going to all the way to today in college, I have had this superstition that I never do well on tests if I do not use my lucky mechanical pencil. I felt a connection to this aqua pencil the second I used it, and I aced a middle school biology test that I thought I was absolutely cooked for. After doing so well on the test I credited my success to the pencil instead of my own brain power. From then on I always used that pencil on every test from highschool to now as a freshman in college. Along the journey though, I had a couple slip ups where I left the pencil at home and I felt my scores were not as good as they would have been on those exams if I were to have had my lucky pencil.”

Context:

“I first heard of this superstition when my friends from middle school would never let me borrow their lucky pencils whenever I asked to borrow one. I asked them why they were so protective of this pencil and they told me they needed it to do well. I laughed and did not take them seriously until my masterclass performance on the biology test. After that miracle, I told them they were right about the lucky pencil and they laughed and said ‘we told you so.’ To this day I still believe that my pencil holds magic to help me do better which is why I still use it for exams.”

Analysis:

The belief in the lucky pencil shows how young students and other creative minds create superstitions or mini rituals that help ease their anxiety and doubts. Although, the pencil itself has no concrete proof to increase scores, it boosts students’ confidence making them feel like they will well. Lucky items are figures of material culture because they hold culture and identity beyond its intended use. Through folklore passed down by friends, the pencil turns from an ordinary writing utencil to a magical object personal to the individual who believes in its power. This reiterates how folklore can often be used to boost feelings of control through ideas of luck, safety, and comfort.

“Shit Damn Motherfucker” – Theatre Ritual

Text: “Shit damn motherfucker / motherfucker damn / this dumb bitch just stole my man / got to find another fucker better than the other fucker / shit damn motherfucker / motherfucker damn”

Context: HC is a Theatre BA at USC, and has performed / participated in many musicals on campus.

HC: I first encountered “shit damn motherfucker” during MTR’s Fun Home, my first show at USC. If I’m remembering correctly, the seniors taught it to us. You repeat it three or four times, starting really quiet and getting really, really loud, like shouting and jumping all together. It’s like– a way for the cast to get energized and pumped for the performance. From then on… I believe I’ve done it before every USC production I’ve been a part of? It just gets passed down by word of mouth by those who’ve done shows at USC before, which I think is very special. I love it, because it gets everyone connected, grounded, and really free before a show. I think it’s like… a way to get the cast out of their heads and into their bodies. Allowing them to be present and prepared for the work they’re about to do!

Analysis: I agree with HC’s analysis of this–I think the ridiculousness of the tradition allows for an outlet for nerves. It’s a reminder to not catastrophize or overthink–instead allowing the actors to have fun, jump, scream, swear in their friends’ faces, and get adrenaline up for the performance. Similar to a lot of pre-show rituals for theatre, it’s a unifying experience, and something of a reset for the entire group before undertaking a practiced performance.

The UCLA Fountain Legend

Students at UCLA have a tradition where they touch their hands into the inverted fountain on campus, which is twelve feet wide and five feet deep, during their freshman orientation. The informant told me about this tradition over a phone call, and it said that if you touch your hand into it again before you graduate, you will be cursed to spend another quarter at UCLA and graduate late. This story has been passed down from the older generations of grades to the current generation. The informant is a student at UCLA in his junior year, and he is apart of a fraternity. He heard this legend from an older student at his fraternity.

AGE: 21

DATE: February 18th

Language: English

Nationality: White

Occupation: Student

Residence: UCLA

ANALYSIS: I believe that this story was made to both bond students together during orientation to participate in a tradition that is specific to the campus and UCLA, and to also act as a superstition that can scare the freshman into not touching the fountain. It is apart of the culture at UCLA, and the story is also a way for the students to make a memory during orientation when it is their turn to touch the fountain, as well as when they graduate and get to partake in the tradition again before they leave.

Hospital Room

Nationality: Indian- American
Age: 63
Occupation: Physician
Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
Language: English

Text: When I was a medical student training in Philadelphia, there was a specific room in the hospital that was never occupied with a patient. Even during the winter time, when the hospital filled up, I never once saw or attended a patient in this room. It was located at the end of the hallway I would typically make rounds in, and it was always well maintained and kept. I asked an attending what the deal with the room was, and he explained that he was also unaware of why patient’s were never placed in the room. Training at Hahnemann for such a long time, I began to feel a sense of nervousness when I walked past this room. I never found out what was wrong with it, if anything was, but the mystery around it- at least for myself- made me feel physically uncomfortable when in its proximity.

Context: Informant first became exposed to this room during his second year at Hahnemann Hospital. He was allowed to begin making rounds completely unaccompanied, and this independence made the lack of presence in the specific room very noticeable. Informant admits to never getting closure over what was wrong with the room, if anything was wrong, but does recognize that its mystery caused some degree of discomfort in his daily life. He, in a logical way, believes nothing was wrong with the room. He believes that he simply became overly- aware of its vacancy, which led him to ponder any potential mishap that could have occurred.

Analysis: This memorate is representatives of common themes in hospital folklore, particularly the mental toll of uncertainty and the fear of holding another’s life in your hands. For new healthcare workers, early clinical experiences carry a much larger emotional weight, as they tend to form the foundations of one’s career. In an already stressed filled setting, an unusually empty room becomes distinctly unexplainable. Though it is very possible nothing was wrong with this room, its vacancy was viewed as a mistake in the mind of someone who was fearful of encountering mistakes on their medical journey. For this reason, these memorates tend to be shared, individually, within the healthcare community.

Ethiopian Anecdote – The Lazy Student

Nationality: Ethiopian
Age: 28
Occupation: Investment Banker
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 1, 2021
Primary Language: Amharic
Language: English

Main Piece 

Once there was a boy who did not understand math. His teacher tried teaching him subtraction, but the boy would not understand. So, the teacher explained with an example.

“If I have five sheep,” she asked, “and one of them leaves, how many sheep are left?”

The boy answers, “no sheep will be left.”

The teacher lost her temper and shouted, “How could there be no sheep left?”

The boy answered while crying “I know the sheep’s character! If one goes, all will follow!”

Context 

This joke is told to children to teach them about the followers in society and distinguish them from the leaders. 

Background

My informant was born and raised in Ethiopia. He heard this joke from his father. He recalls that this joke was his first exposure to the concept that people can exhibit characteristics of sheep. My informant likes this joke because he comes across many people in his line of work that remind him of this joke.

My Thoughts

This joke is incredibly relevant today, even in the United States. There is much talk of a group of people being “sheep” because they follow the lead of certain celebrities or politicians. This kind of rhetoric is popular because it can apply to both sides of a political spectrum. Two opponents can both claim that the other is a “sheep” for merely believing something different. I also found it interesting that a message such as this was communicated using a classroom setting with children. This suggests that even young children are astute enough to recognize when someone is a sheep, and that it does not take a genius to do so.