All over the world, people hold trinkets that bring them good luck. It might be a gold coin, a rabbit’s foot, a four-leaf clover, or even a dream-catcher, but they all are in hopes for a little extra luck. 

Luck is different for everyone and comes from a different place. 

According to National Geographic, good luck charms are a sign of hope and comfort. When people are going through challenges, they look for a sign that will bring them better days ahead, and that’s what a good luck charm is for.

Junior Cece Gordon has been carrying a Sonny Angel for about two years. She came across someone who had one and heard that it brought them good juju. Gordon ordered a keychain, and when she got her license, she put it on her keys and has had a Sonny Angel ever since.

“I started having little things happen, and ever since then, they have been good luck for me” Gordon said. 

Gordon has come across many times when her Sonny Angel has brought her unexpected luck. 

“On the plane flying alone home from Boston, there was no Wi-Fi. As dramatic as it sounds, I needed the Wi-Fi because I hate planes— flying scares me,” Gordon said. “I put my brand-new Sonny on my phone, and all of a sudden, the Wi-Fi started working. It was honestly crazy.”

This seemingly unstoppable Sonny Angel has rooted a superstition in Gordon, but she believes there is some sort of spirit in it because wherever she goes, little bits of good luck follow. It also brings her a sense of comfort—not only adding a little more fun in life but bringing her good juju. 

“It has become a habit to carry one with me wherever I go and get new ones regularly,” Gordon said. “Not only is it good luck, but it’s super cute.”

Senior Blakely Rice carries a lamb stuffed animal with her to every dance competition for the past four years, gifted to her by the seniors of the 2022 dance team. 

At the beginning of the season, during the end of practice, everyone was circled up, and the seniors had a gift for all the new dancers on the team. Their gift was a stuffed animal that reminded them of each of the dancers, and Rice was gifted a lamb. 

Each stuffed animal had a blue ribbon, their good luck ribbon, attached to the animal. 

“It’s special to me because it was welcoming us to the team,” Rice said. “It was the first thing we got from the seniors, and we had it through all the years we danced.”

Rice brought her lamb to every competition, showcase, and performance she had. Not only did she bring it there, but at every competition, everyone on the team would bring their lucky charm to awards and place it in the middle of the circle for good luck. 

It was a sense of comfort for Rice, knowing that it was there to provide her with good luck. 

“I think my good luck charm is a mix of being personal, but also being a superstition,” Rice said. “It’s personal because the specific stuffed animal was chosen for me by the seniors when I was new to the team, and it becomes a superstition when we make sure we have it for awards.” 

Junior Adler Schlacher keeps his great-grandfather’s Eagle Scout pocket knife for good fortune. In 1936, his great-grandfather received the pocket knife once he was named an Eagle Scout of Wisconsin. 

Schlacher’s great-grandfather owned a museum, and one day, when Schlacher was six or seven, he asked if he could go visit. He thought that maybe he would find something special for him to take home. 

“I found a knife sitting in a glass case and decided to open it up,” Schlacher said. “Low and behold, I cut my hand open in the process and left the museum empty-handed other than a huge cut on my hand.”

When Schlacher and his family were clearing out his great-grandparents’ house, he rediscovered the knife he had seen at the museum. Schlacher has now had the knife for a year or two. 

The knife is very special to Schlacher and brings him good luck because it belonged to his great-grandfather. 

“This knife had been with my great-grandfather for every single major step of his life— throughout his entire battle to becoming an Eagle Scout and his time in the military,” Schlacher said. “The fact that the knife was never lost or stolen truly shows the meaning of the knife to my great-grandfather.”

Whether it’s a tiny figure, a stuffed animal, or an old pocket knife, these objects carry personal history and a sense of reassurance along with the superstition. For these three LFHS students, their good luck charms are reminders of connection and the ways life can offer comfort.