Lucky or not?

Being the luckiest man alive was one of my dreams growing up as a kid. During those moments, I sometimes imagine myself winning the lotto, passing the exam without studying for it, and even surviving an accident (yes, I have a crazy imagination lol). Because of the concept of luck, I was intrigued with lucky charms at an early age.

Years passed, I was able to gain more knowledge about those lucky charms and I found out that relying on those things is superstitious, however, some studies say that those lucky charms do actually work in some way. Those studies say that we, people are more confident when we feel like luck is on our side. Having this belief boosts our mental as well as physical performance and makes us believe we are capable of doing things.

I can attest to that findings of the researchers because I, myself had an experience wearing something which I considered a lucky charm that somewhat helped me whenever I attended Metrobank-MTAP DepEd Math Challenges.

I was a very active pupil in first grade and there was one unexpected moment that changed my life forever. As I was doing my activity in my seat, my adviser went near me and asked me if I am good at math. I didn’t give myself time to assess my skills if I am really that good or not but I immediately answered, “Yes, ma’am!”, without any hesitations. I don’t know why I did that but I’m glad I did. I became one of the three contestants that represented my school in the Grade 1 Level during that time.

We were required by our coach to wear red during the competition to match our school’s color. That time, I only have one red t-shirt so that’s what I wore. The shirt has the letter “i” logo of The Incredibles.

If my memory serves me right, I think I was 2nd place at that time and I felt so happy and proud and at the same time, I felt incredible.

The following year, the three of us are again the representatives for the Grade 2 Level. Guess what I wore? Yes, you’re right, the same The Incredibles shirt. We won again in that competition, and also the following years except in the fourth grade because I also joined the Science Quiz Bee at that time so I didn’t have any time left to attend reviews for my Math contest.

Because of those wins that I’ve acquired wearing the same shirt, I was starting to believe that what I was wearing was not just an ordinary red shirt but a lucky one. That shirt became my confidence booster in every math competition.

In my junior high school years, I became one of the contestants again from Grade 7 up to Grade 10. However, my lucky shirt was already too small at that time, but I still put it in my bag every time we had a competition.

It was in Grade 10 where I had my greatest achievement ever in my years of competing in the Metrobank-MTAP Deped Math Challenge. During the Regional Team Finals, our team was neck and neck with the powerhouse teams from Region 1 until one question under the difficult round broke the tie.

Hearts were pounding fast; hands were shivering from nervousness however the tension was finally lifted after hearing that Ilocos Sur got the correct answer. I was trying to calm myself down at that very moment because I know we are already leading. At the end of the final question, all the scores were counted and team Ilocos Sur was declared the Champion in the Regional Team Finals.

It was an incredible moment indeed! Of all the times I’ve experienced winning different math competitions, that was the only time I shed tears. The feeling of bringing home the trophy and making your Alma Mater proud was simply amazing.

Is my shirt really lucky? Maybe or maybe not? However, I think the very reason why we achieved those wins is primarily because of hard work. We may have luck on our side but what truly makes us winners are the sacrifices and efforts we put into the work we do.

Lead image edited in canva.

Stay safe, everyone!