Getting a tattoo usually ends up on one’s bucket list during their teenage years. For some, this box gets checked off later in their life. But others get this box checked off in high school. The tattoos that students have are not always meaningless, instead, they tell a story.

Junior Rilyn Snyder has a word tattooed on her body. At first glance, it seems simplistic since most people get tattoos of words. Although it is simplistic, the word holds a deep meaning for Snyder.

“I have the word ‘unbreakable’ tattooed on my right outer thigh. My parents also have the word tattooed on their bodies, but mine is in my dad’s handwriting,” said Snyder. Snyder and her family all decided to get a family tattoo to show their love and support for each other.

“When my dad was first diagnosed with colon cancer, he and my mom got the tattoo together. The ‘l’ in ‘unbreakable’ represents a cancer ribbon. The word itself is supposed to show that our family’s bond is unbreakable no matter what happens,” said Snyder. The process for the tattoo was an interesting experience for Snyder. 

“It took about ten minutes to get the tattoo, but it was kind of painful. They started the tattoo on the lower part of my leg, and it didn’t hurt a lot. But as they moved up my leg for the tattoo, I could feel the pain growing,” said Snyder. Even though the process was semi-painful, Snyder doesn’t regret the fact that she has a tattoo to represent her “unbreakable” family bond. 

Like Snyder, Freshman Trevor deCocq has a tattoo that represents who he is as a person. DeCocq was diagnosed with a rare physical neurological disability, so he wants his tattoo to illustrate his journey.

“My disability is very rare and most people die at birth – I obviously didn’t. The doctors said that there’s a protein somewhere in my body that either has too much or too little of it. Because there isn’t the correct amount of protein in my body, my legs are affected,” said deCocq. The disability may be uncommon, but deCocq got a tattoo to show the world that the disability is still a part of him.

“I knew I wanted to get a tattoo that would represent my disability, but I wasn’t sure what design I should choose. After some more time looking [on the internet], I found a design that I really liked. I instantly connected with it and thought it was perfect for me,” said deCocq. The design that deCocq chose was a DNA tree.

“The tattoo is on my right forearm. Even though a DNA tree isn’t common, it’s still something beautiful. The design of the tattoo does a really good job of showing my disability as something that is different but still unique,” said deCocq. In the future, deCocq hopes to get more meaningful tattoos on his body.

Junior Talia Rogers currently has two tattoos. She has one on her left wrist and the other one across her shoulder blades. 

“The tattoo on my left wrist is a little ghost. The skirt of the ghost says ‘Ride or Die’ in cursive. I had problems with my mental health during freshman year, so the saying represents how I overcame that struggle” said Rogers. Not only does the tattoo represent an achievement that Rogers has accomplished, but it also shows her connection with her mom.

“My mom is my best friend. She is someone that I would take a bullet for, and she would do the same thing for me,” said Rogers. The other tattoo that Rogers has is solely for her. She has a moth tattoo across her shoulder blades. Rogers is terrified of moths, but she still finds them beautiful. 

“They have many different colors on their wings, and I  think that [the colors] add to its uniqueness,” said Rogers. She put a lot of care into deciding what type of moth she wanted to be tattooed on her shoulder blades. There were two species of moth that Rogers was considering: the Death moth and the Emperor moth. She ultimately decided to have the Emperor moth tattooed across her shoulder blades. 

While some tattoos are gotten on impulse, most of the tattoos that students choose for themselves are given a lot of thought. The meaning behind the tattoo can range from a connection with family members to representing oneself. Whatever the tattoo is, it is beautiful in its own way.