Ah, the infamous Bucknell Seal. If you’ve ever had the privilege of walking past it—and let’s be real, it’s practically impossible not to—then you’ve probably heard the same haunting warning: “If you step on the seal, you’ll never graduate.”

For those unfamiliar, the Bucknell Seal is centrally located on the quad, right on the path that leads to the library. You know, the place we go to pretend to study while checking Instagram for the third time in 10 minutes. This notorious landmark has been the subject of many whispered campus legends. I vividly recall during Pre-O, as we were walking towards McDonnell Commons, someone pointed to the seal and said, “Don’t walk on that unless you want to stay here forever.” Naturally, my first thought was, “Who put a graduation-stopping curse smack dab in the middle of campus, where it’s impossible to avoid?” I mean, seriously, you’re telling me Bucknell students are expected to slalom around it for four years?

Now, as someone who spends most of his time shuffling between Vaughan Lit and Coleman (yes, I like to stay in close proximity to my inevitable over-caffeination at the library), my interaction with this cursed seal is, shall we say, frequent. In fact, at this point, the seal and I are practically best friends. I meet up with it more often than I do with my actual friends. We share many intimate moments as I stroll past—sometimes even over it—on my way to class. If it could talk, I’m sure it’d have some thoughts on my ever-growing coffee dependency and my awkwardly frequent trips to the library. Honestly, I’m more familiar with the seal’s placement on campus than with some of my textbooks.

And spoiler alert: I’ve walked on it. Many times. And guess what? I still plan on graduating. It’s not like there’s a secret seal-detecting force field that makes sure your diploma evaporates if you step on it.

In fact, people have started to take the whole thing as a joke. It’s become a game—will I curse myself today? The very students who claim they avoid it will, without fail, “accidentally” traipse over it in broad daylight, chuckling to themselves as if the seal is some mischievous entity plotting their academic downfall. But hey, who am I to judge? We all need some excitement in our lives, and if avoiding a seal gives you that thrill, more power to you.

But wait, the Bucknell Seal isn’t the only superstition floating around campus. There’s also the “Don’t walk under the gate unless you want to fail your exams!” myth. Then there’s the “If the campus squirrels look at you too long, you’ll lose your scholarship!” Okay, maybe I made that last one up, but let’s be real—the squirrels here are suspicious. I wouldn’t put it past them to be keeping tabs on our tuition.

So, if you’re new here or just superstitious by nature, be warned: Bucknell is a minefield of strange, graduation-threatening rules. But I say, embrace it. Walk on the seal, stroll under the gate and make friends with the squirrels. At the end of the day, it’s all in good fun—and if you’re really worried, there’s always grad school, right?