If a mysterious black cat crosses your path and bad luck follows you through the day, or if you step on a crack and learn that your mother broke her back, you can blame it all on today's date: Friday the 13th.
Thoughts of bad luck have always plagued people's minds on this notorious day, and UA students are no exception.
David Galindo, a senior majoring in finance and Spanish, said he has many superstitions that change his daily tasks.
"I always put my left sock on first," Galindo said. "And at 11:11 a.m. and p.m., I always make a wish."
For Delania Cavaletto, a senior majoring in music and Spanish, her superstitious rituals consume her daily life.
Money has so many germs that every bill needs to be cleaned and disinfected, Cavaletto said.
"I have to wash and iron all of my money by hand with antibacterial soap," Cavaletto said. "The ironing part is just to keep it nice and crispy."
It's a good thing that the basketball game took place yesterday, or J.D. Lindberg, a business junior, would be especially troubled with his game-day superstitions.
"I always wear my Arizona gear when there's a Cats game," Lindberg said. "It's for good luck."
Darren Biggs, a media arts junior, said he follows superstitions handed down to him from his grandma.
She said stepping over a baby would make it short, and wearing a hat or opening an umbrella indoors would cause baldness, Biggs said.
She also said, "Don't play with yourself, or you'll go blind."
Gwynneth Smith, a geological engineering sophomore, tucks the evidence of her superstition away at night.
The only way to do well on a test is to sleep with the textbook underneath your pillow, Smith said.
"I only do it with physics because it's my hardest subject," she said.
Dana Marion, an elementary education sophomore, only entertains the garden-variety superstitions.
"I don't think I'm a very superstitious person, but I would never cross under a ladder. I just go around them," Marion said.