You wake up and realize you are late for class. Running to the bathroom you get to the door just as your roommate turns on the shower. Even though you are still stinky, you hurry to class only to discover that you missed a pop quiz.

The downward spiral continues.

You have nothing for lunch; your car breaks down; your significant other dumps you.

Sound like just an average day? Perhaps not — it could only be Friday the 13th.

What makes this day such a black hole of good luck?

Rebekah Taylor, a senior from Ames, Iowa, thinks Friday the 13th is unlucky because everyone makes it that way.

Other students believe it has become a strange day because of the 1980 horror movie, Friday the 13th. Or was it 1994’s A Nightmare on Elm Street?

The real myth behind the superstition, however, goes back thousands of years.

Friday the 13th has been considered unlucky in Western culture for hundreds of years, said David Emery, about.com’s urban legend expert.

He said the combination of the unlucky number 13 and the sixth day of the week, also considered unlucky, creates the superstition.

The Scandinavians believed another demigod joined the 12 already existing mythological demigods, making 13. This 13th demigod was believed to be evil and brought misfortune to humans. The Scandinavians felt the number 13 unlucky because of this misfortune, according to www.oldsuperstitions.com.

According to the site, another reason people believe Friday the 13th unlucky is because some believe Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday and the number of guests at the Last Supper was 13, the 13th guest being Judas, the traitor.

Luckily you will only have to encounter this unlucky day twice this year: this month and again in October.