Whitney Haddox: a senior in exercise science, cringes at the thought of seven years of bad luck after breaking a mirror. Kyle Cooper / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
What do rabbits’ feet, pennies and horseshoes have in common?
They all bring good luck, according to Auburn students who say they believe and follow superstitions.
Most students say they pick and choose the superstitions they follow, but they say they think almost everyone believes in at least one superstition.
Cody Clark, a freshman in fiber engineering, said he isn’t sure whether superstitions are real, but he doesn’t want to take any chances.
“I believe things happen for a reason, and I don’t want to cause anything bad to happen,” Clark said. “I believe they are mostly just in your head, but better safe than sorry.”
Clark said he has heard seeing black cats, breaking mirrors and spilling salt mean bad luck.
Clark also believes eating certain foods before an athletic event is bad luck.
“Back in high school, a buddy of mine and I would never eat hamburger meat on Thursday or Friday because we believed it would throw our (football) game off come Friday night,” Clark said. “We even went to a team grill out and would not eat anything but hotdogs.”
Emily Venglarik, a sophomore in secondary science education, said she believes in a number of superstitions.
“I only pick up pennies if they are heads up,” Venglarik said. “I knock on wood. And I feel like I see the number 37 a lot, which is good luck.”
Venglarik said some of the superstitions she follows have become habit for her.
“It’s half out of habit and half out of superstition,” Venglarik said. “I don’t think anything bad would really happen to me if I never did it again.”
Chelsea Burke, a senior in criminal justice, said she has heard about many superstitions but only follows “See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck.”
“If I see a penny on heads, I’ll pick it up because I believe it is good luck,” Burke said. “If I see a penny on tails, I won’t touch it because I think that it is bad luck.”
