Why 3 really is the magic number…

I have decided to write my blog this year about my favorite number in the entire world. I hope that by explaining why I love the number so much, I will help you understand my infatuation with the number 3, and hopefully find a small place in your heart for my favorite number.

It all started when I was in 2nd grade after I made the 3rd grade select basketball team. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. Now back in the day, we didn’t buy brand new jerseys every year, instead we picked out jerseys that were our size, and then we returned them at the end of the year to be reused. At the time, since my birthday is October 20th, my favorite number was 20, so naturally I wanted to be 20 and I fully intended on getting the #20 jersey. When it was my turn to choose I saw the #20 jersey but it had some rips in it, and the seams were coming undone from use over the years. The rips in the jersey were miniscule and nothing my mom couldn’t sew up very quick, but I didn’t want a beat up old jersey to play in on my very first select basketball team, so on a whim I opted for a much newer looking jersey without any rips or flaws. It just so happened that this jersey was the #3 jersey. Little did I know at the time, but that was the beginning of my obsession with 3. After that day I started seeing signs in my life that made feel fall deeper and deeper in love with the number.

The first thing I remember was watching schoolhouse rock in school. We watched the one about numbers, and when they got to 3, they sang a song called “3 is the magic number”. Now I listen to the song on repeat on my ipod and think about everything that has to do with this magic number. I feel it’s best just to list everything that I have thought about after years of listening to the song. These are random things I think about and yes; I know I am a huge weirdo (Notice: I’ve made a list of 12 which of course is 3 multiplied by 4).

• We live in a 3D world
• It take 3 points to make a plane (in geometry)
• There are 3 vague time periods that people refer to (past, present, future)
• In fairy tales characters always get 3 wishes
• There are lots of religious things that have to do with the number including but not limited to the holy trinity, and the fact that Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days.
• It takes 3 legs to make a table stand.
• 2 is just a couple, but 3 is something completely different, 3 is a few.
• 3 people make a family (a mom, a dad, and a baby).
• The 3rd time is the charm.
• You get 3 strikes before you’re out (and 3 outs per inning)
• There are 3 children in my family
• And last but certainly not least, our preseason ranking this year was 3

My teammates may call me weird for doing things in 3’s. They think it’s crazy that I count out the food I eat into groups of 3. They call me obsessive compulsive when I have to get up from the table to get another strawberry after someone eats one and throws off my numbers. They get annoyed when I insist on taking the 3rd seat (or a multiple of 3) when choosing a place to sit anywhere we go. They laugh at me when they see me park my bike in the 3rd spot of any bike rack I come across. They mock me when they hear me rationalize any of the stupid things I do because it involves #3.

I’m not obsessed with it, and I don’t have to do things in 3’s, I choose to. The number is a part of me, which is why I have chosen to wear #3 throughout my entire basketball career. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our preseason ranking is 3; it’s a sign that this is our year to win Stanford's 3rd national championship.

MIkaela