Body art has been a growing tendency for many as a way to increase personal style, and embrace being themselves. At NHS, several students have tattoos coming in many different shapes, sizes, and colors.
“I actually have a lot of tattoos, [and] a lot of them are flowery … I have them because I think they look cool,” senior Amaree Henderson said.
Henderson explained that many of her tattoos do not have meaning and are just for looks, but some of them specifically do provide meaning to her like her son’s birthday, and both her and her son’s hands on her forearm.
“I like how they look and all of mine have meanings … most of them are for my friend that passed away so it’s nice to have something to remember her by,” senior Anaí Fernandez said.
According to Psychology Today, tattoos can give people the feeling of control over their body and their ability to express creativity.
Around one-third of Americans have at least one tattoo and they can range from being symbolic to an artwork on the body with no meaning.
“The symbol of my tattoos are religious based … the top bicep part of my tattoo hurt pretty bad … it was my first tattoo and it cost about 600 dollars,” senior Matthew Weltzin said.
Weltzin also said that the cost of his tattoos combined was around $1,200, which spans from the top of his bicep down to his wrist. In the top part of his tattoo, one can see many crosses, and below on his forearm, there are stairs going towards gates in the clouds.
“I’ve always had a strong faith in God and I felt that I have been blessed in many ways, so I felt like it was good to get this and make it a part of me,” Weltzin said.
Tattooing is a hard process because one must know the correct depth for the needle, correct hygiene procedures and how to fit designs to a body. Henderson has a tattoo gun and practices doing them for fun.
“I like art and drawing so my mom told me that she thought I’d be good at it … she bought me a [tattoo] gun and let me start practicing … I love tattoos! Get tatted,” Henderson said.
Henderson does her own tattoos, and in the future may consider getting a license so that she can tattoo others as well.
“I plan to fill out the rest of my arm sleeve and get the whole inside done, I am not going to tell you what it is yet because I don’t want somebody to steal my original ideas,” Weltzin said.